CHÉRI

Michelle Pfeiffer thinks Chéri is a hottie, even though he is thirty years younger, pouts and simpers, and looks like he mistakenly stepped off the set of Twilight.

During the Belle Époque era (the late 19th century thorugh WWI), courtesans were rock stars, and in the world of Chéri, Léa de Lonval (Michelle Pfeiffer) was one of the most luminous. But now Léa is "of a certain age" (oh, late 40's maybe?) and she finds herself sans a lover. On a visit to her aging peer Madame Peloux (Kathy Bates), she finds herself flirting with the suddenly of-age son of her friend. Chéri (Rupert Friend) is no longer a boy, but a man of 19 years who is emboldened sexually from growing up the child of a courtesan. He makes it clear that he wants Léa. A little surprising to be making out with your friends son (right in front of her), but hey, this is France in the leisure class.

Chéri goes to Léa's countryside manor, and next thing you know six years have passed, much to everyone's surprise. I mean, with the 30-year age difference, who'da thought that Chéri would become Léa's longest-lasting lover? They have a comfortable, satifying relationship, but then, oops, Chéri finds out that his mother has promised him in marriage to Edmee (Felicity Jones), another child of a courtesan. They are perfect for each other, after all. I mean, who is Léa to Chéri? She has just been training the boy, really. But Chéri and Léa find themselves to be surprisingly distraught over his engagement to the guileless Edmee...

Chéri has a lot to recommend it. This is one of the most flat-out gorgeous films I've seen in a long time. Pfeiffer, gorgeous as always, looks sumptuous in the beautifully-designed gowns of the first decade of the 20th century. Rupert Friend, with his almost distracting mop of black hair, porcelain skin, little red lips, and lithe Brit-boy frame, looks stylishly foppish, like a young Oscar Wilde, with his top hat and cane. I wish hipster boys would break away from skinny jeans and adopt this devilishly handsome look. The art design is just as luscious, and I found myself coveting not only the backyard gardens of these leisurely folk, but Léa's bed frame and the ironwork fence in front of her home. Fantastic.

But oh, I was distracted about how pretty everything in Chéri is... and when I decided to think about the film, I realized that there was something missing. As the audience, we are meant to believe that Léa and Chéri's relationship was their one true love. But you know what? Chéri was a spoiled brat. He was a kept boy that never became a man (and no, realizing too late who you love doesn't make you a man, it just makes you jaded). I honestly wasn't convinced that they were madly in love.

But Pfeiffer does have a moment, really right at the end of the film, that almost... almost convinced me otherwise. She has a speech, that I figure was lifted right from the words of Colette,  who wrote Chéri and The Last of Chéri, on which the film is based. The speech is stunning, and is a fabulous moment for Pfeiffer. We are left with a lingering close-up of Pfeiffer's beautiful, haunted face, that almost makes you forget that the rest of the film just wasn't as good as this final moment.

DVD NOTES

The single-disc DVD release of Chéri includes a making-of featurette and deleted scenes.