When Variety reported that the Russo brothers would be teaming up with Tom Holland once again, the internet was ecstatic that it wouldn’t be within the Marvel Universe. The pair would be working together on a new project based on the life of Nico Walker, called Cherry, that the company AGBO acquired the rights too.
The film takes place in Cleveland, Ohio and it’s about a man named Cherry who falls in love with a fellow student named Emily. Eventually their relationship comes to a halt when Emily explains to Cherry that she is going to pursue her education in Montrel. This causes him to try and find meaning in life so he decides to join the army to become a medic. During his time in the army, Cherry and Emily stay together promising that once it's over they'll be able to start their life again. He goes through a traumatic event when his friends die in an explosion. This event haunts him throughout the rest of the film and in order for him to have some sleep he starts taking OxyContin. This leads to him becoming addicted, which causes Emily to feel so frustrated that she starts taking Oxi as well.
Tom Holland delivers a strong performance throughout the film. His character is interesting due to the actor's natural charisma, however there are moments in the film where not enough action is happening that it becomes hard to watch.
It is understandable that Tom Holland might want to dive into more deep and intense roles in order to stray away from his Spider-Man image, but with that being said, this role might have been a stretch. He is miscast and looks too young for such an intense role that it can actually distract the viewer. It would have been more beneficial if they had gotten an older actor to play the character in the second part of the film.
Ciara Bravos is mostly known for such roles as Big Time rush and Red Band Society. In this film she plays Emily, who is an integral part of Cherrys life since all his decisions are based around her. Ciara Bravo's performance was strong for the material she was given, however her character is difficult to understand since we aren't given her characters motivations as well as her past this causes a lack of understanding from her perspective and it's never further discussed. There was a lot of potential that sadly wasn't further explored such as Emily's relationship with her parents, who she was before, and how cherrys addiction is complete left field for her. In the two hours and twenty one minutes the audience had to endure it was never fully established why they fell in love with each other.
One of the biggest issues with the film is the screenplay since most of the issues stem from The foundation of the film is cherry falling in love and it's one of the threads that hold up throughout the film yet the relationship between these characters is hard to comprehend since its barely shown to the audience why he falls in love with her. Emily is pretty much the same throughout the film and only changes when she starts taking Oxy. The character of Emily starts taking drugs in order to cope with Cherrys way and the way it's shown is was quite lazy and insensitive. One thing that has to be pointed out is that the character of cherry is the narrator and he breaks the fourth wall here and there that being said there is a lot that occurs storywise that it felt very ambitious and overwhelming at the same time.
The cinematography was beautiful and at moment it seemed to enhance the scenes however for the most part it became too distracting that it can be hard to enjoy. There is an overwhelming sense of flashiness and tricks occurring that showcased the directors ambitions that instead of elevating the screenplay it actually hurt more. An alternative approach such stillness felt more appropriate and true for these characters following their tumultuous journey rather than filming a rectum shot just because you can. At the end this film had a lot of potential that was sadly wasted however one thing that can be said is that we haven't seen the last of Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo.
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