"Cheri strikes a jarring note right from the start." - Dan Callahan

Processing of the film is too superficial. Maybe its because of the story. Story is very usual. The art direction and Michelle Pfeiffer's performance is very very good though.

The star of this film is not one of the actors (though Pfeiffer is remarkable here), but rather a tragi-comic tone that keeps one guessing and which plays extremely well in the film's final act. Through the use of music and Frears' own narration, the film presents a fundamentally tragic story with a feathery light touch--and does so without undercutting the seriousness of the conflicts. Further, the tone helps us to see the fundamental superficiality and inherent misguidance of the film's world.

For the most part it's largely an innocuous and inconsequential but amusing comedy with some great acting from Pfeiffer and Friend. Things turn more serious at the last third of the film. But that doesn't mean it gets better. If anything, the attempt to be more weighty kind of drags it down with the conflicting and forced conclusion being particularly half-baked.

Brava to Michelle Pfeiffer for bringing this character to life - her portrayal is particularly poignant.

Much darker than you may expect, with a commanding Pfeiffer at her best and a visually lavish cinematography. A few mismatches like the dispensable voiceover can't overcome the many things going for it.

As might be expected, all of the art direction and costume design is exquisite, and Frears remains a quietly assured director in the pure mechanics of visual storytelling. When the film turns its attention to the passive aggressive verbal jousting that occurs between the courtesans past their prime, it gets a little devilish spark that may not bring it to life, but at least gets it groggily fluttering its eyes. Then there's Pfeiffer, who plays the key moments with smashing authority.

The mismatch in ages (23 years in real life) is so acutely felt as to give the occasional impression that the film is actually about something more than Belle Epoque clothes, décors, hairstyles, gardens, cars. The proper tone, however, is a struggle, the hardest labor coming from the arch omniscient narrator (Frears himself), the lilting, mincing, never-letting-up music of Alexandre Desplat, and above all Pfeiffer, drawing out her vowels in an attempt to convey jadedness and sophistication

Michelle did an awesome job as always! And the movie is great with her incredible performance but there's something lacking in it! Maybe the story itself isn't so touching and sensitive, anyway, the love story isn't the best thing I ever saw but still very enjoyable.

Michelle Pfeiffer is gorgeous and Rupert Friend accompanies her well. Still, the book by Colette is far superior.

It's a good movie, but it isn't awesome, not even exciting.

It was so slow and uneventful that they made a plot point out of it. And I never even saw Michelle Pfeiffer partially naked!