CHERISH

Cherish is a weird little movie packaged in a deceptively cheerful box.

Cherish is a weird little movie packaged in a deceptively cheerful box. It features Robin Tunney in rollerskates licking a giant pink lollipop and touts a fun 80's soundtrack. If you're already singing "cherish is the word I use to remind me oo-of your lo-ove" like Madonna, you can stop. This "Cherish" is from the 70's, and we've all heard it in elevators, but I can't think of anyone who'd listen to it on purpose. The rest of the soundtrack is far more fun, but I'm not sure you'll ever think of "Private Eyes" by Hall and Oates in the same light again.

Wrongfully accused of killing a police officer, Zoe (played by Tunney), is so hated by the staff at the jail that she is placed under house arrest through the bracelet program. A tracking device on her ankle monitors her exact location at all times. In order to pay her legal bills, she is forced to sell her condo and relocate to a bad neighborhood. To make matters worse, her lawyer (Nora Dunn) is completely apathetic to her claim that someone else was in the car the night the police officer was run down. No one believes that she is being stalked, and she must fight to clear her name within the limited radius afforded by her ankle bracelet.

The bulk of the movie takes place in the crummy apartment as Zoe hatches escape plans. She makes friends with her wheelchair-bound neighbor, and gradually wins over even the "bad" kids in her neighborhood. She also receives frequent visits from Daly (played by Tim Blake Nelson), who keeps tabs on the condition of her ankle bracelet. He assumes his usual creepy-little-man role, but I thought this time he might just turn out to be likable. Of course I was wrong, and should have trusted my gut instinct after he blackmailed Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl.

Robin Tunney is witty and likable as Zoe, which makes up for the slow and rather limited scope of the plot. I never did figure out if Cherish was a dark comedy, a drama, a thriller, or all of the above. That said, at least it is interesting enough to follow to the end, which is exceedingly unsettling. Like Mary in There's Something About Mary, Zoe seems to be one of those girls destined to become the object of obsession. Each simple act of human kindness leaves them vulnerable to unwanted attention: but that's not funny. Building a comedy around this notion is disturbingly close to blaming the victim, and that's nothing to mess around with.