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Cherish
Fine Line Features

Cherish reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 51 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.6 out of 10
based on 25 reviews
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How did we calculate this?
based on 6 votes
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MPAA RATING: R for language

Starring Robin Tunney, Tim Blake Nelson, Brad Hunt, Liz Phair, Jason Priestley, Nora Dunn, Lindsay Crouse, and Ricardo Gil

A fantasy-prone young woman confronts a life-altering reality when she is placed in a house arrest program. (Fine Line Features)


GENRE(S): Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Finn Taylor  
DIRECTED BY: Finn Taylor  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: December 10, 2002 
Video: December 10, 2002 
Theatrical: June 7, 2002 
RUNNING TIME: 99 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A film of real beauty, which is surprising, since it's not a movie of beautiful sentiments or settings.
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75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Tunney, brimming with coltish, neurotic energy, holds the screen like a true star. She brings the role, and the movie, to life.
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75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
A lightweight charmer with a winning performance by Robin Tunney.
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75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Endearingly offbeat romantic comedy with a great meet-cute gimmick.
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70
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
I paid steadfast attention, both to the actress, a performer of unusual versatility, and to the character she plays, a caged -- and cagey -- bird who sings because she's too stubborn to cry.
70
LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
May be scant on character and plot development, but it’s rich with affection for daydream believers
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67
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Disoriented but occasionally disarming saga packed with moments out of an ''Alice in Wonderland'' adventure, a stalker thriller, and a condensed season of TV's ''Big Brother.''
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63
Boston Globe Janice Page
The cast is up to the challenges of that arc, but the plot doesn't always keep them afloat.
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63
Chicago Tribune Loren King
An uneven mix of genres that, even when it misses the mark, gets points for originality and a good beat.
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60
Washington Post Desson Thomson
The movie's about its own playfulness. But that playfulness, all too often, feels labored.
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60
Variety Dennis Harvey
Good performances and quirky humor make this slick if less than fully satisfying mix of romantic comedy and mystery an easy sit.
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50
The New York Times A.O. Scott
As a poky little character comedy, Cherish is enchanting in a small-scale way. But when Mr. Taylor tries to turn it into a genre thriller, Cherish deteriorates so quickly that it's unsettling -- but probably not in the way Mr. Taylor intended.
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50
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
This is a downbeat, indulgent and self-consciously quirky little movie.
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50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Though it is shaped as a woman-in-peril thriller about obsession, Cherish is about being winningly kooky, not violently insane.
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50
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Seems to vanish from memory even as you're watching it. The movie is an exercise in minimalist storytelling.
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50
The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
In the end, it becomes the cinematic equivalent of one of the songs Tunney adores: enjoyable enough while it lasts, but so thin that its ingratiating charms seem as much a source of frustration as pleasure.
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50
Film Threat Chad Bixby
Slightly less than lovable. It’s a strained romantic comedy that starts promisingly, takes a hard left turn and slowly falls apart.
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50
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
As it is, while Tunney is undeniably lovely to look at, she's just not that much fun to be around. And for 100 minutes, she's all we've got.
50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
Finn Taylor's lark of a movie feels like two unfinished films awkwardly fused together and ever threatening to snap apart.
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50
New Times (L.A.) Luke Y. Thompson
Their (Tunney and Nelson) interplay is what saves the movie, and possibly should have been expanded upon to the exclusion of the other plot points.
40
Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
The soundtrack is a boisterous blast from the past, and there's a quiet pleasure to watching Zoe and Daly let their composure loose like scrambled eggs, but there's little else to hold dear here.
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40
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The idea is more interesting than the screenplay, which lags badly in the middle and lurches between not-very-funny comedy, unconvincing dramatics and some last-minute action strongly reminiscent of "Run Lola Run." Great soundtrack, though.
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30
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Implausible at every turn, it offers a dab of quirkiness and edge from writer-director Finn Taylor, but otherwise has nothing for audiences to embrace.
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25
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
The movie's weirdness isn't organic; it's imposed, like barber-pole stripes painted on a prison wall.
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20
Village Voice Dennis Lim
The only flicker of thematic interest -- AM radio obsession as psychopathology -- is duly subsumed into a sea of desperate soundtrack come-ons.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Andrew M. gave it a 7:
It's an overused word for this type of film, but this one truly is: quirky. It is a quirky film, with charm and appeal. Finn Taylor has obvious talent and he directs with passion, but it's Robin Tunney who is the shining light in this film. She carries it further than others may have been able. I saw her in End Of Days and thought she was good but also somewhat dispensable. Not so in Cherish - she is superb and the camera loves her. She believes in her character and seems to genuinely like her character, which in turn makes you like her character. Plus (and this is a big plus!) she looks absolutely gorgeous too! Worth getting for her performance alone.

Leatita S. gave it an 8:
Loved it..it was weird and wonderful but tended to drag a little towards the end.

Jessie B. gave it a 9:
Excellent chemistry between Tunney and Blake Nelson made this movie for me. Just a lot of fun.

Michelle C. gave it a 9:
Loved this indie film that flies in the face of genre convention. Great music as well.

Blair D. gave it a 2:
Starts out cute, but then turns really awful. And it LOOKS crappy too.

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