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Cherish
review by Gianni Truzzi, 28 June 2002
28th Seattle International Film
Festival
It’s a peculiar condition of modern
life that the more pressed among us will fantasize about being
incarcerated. Think of all the reading prison would give you time
for, or the novel you could write if you were locked up for several
months. None of these intellectual pastimes, however, seem to occur
to Zoe, the needy motor mouth under house arrest in Finn Taylor’s
new film. For Zoe, being alone with herself is her worst source of
anxiety.
Zoe
(Robin Tunney) is pretty enough to date frequently, even
compulsively, unable to sit still in her hard-earned San Francisco
condo. To her therapist’s (a grossly underutilized Lindsay Crouse)
chastisement for such profligate dating habits, Zoe speculates, "I
don’t think I’d go out with so many if any one of them would call me
back."
How a
woman so accessible acquires a secret stalker is one of the larger
mysteries in this film that oscillates between a suspense thriller
and romantic comedy. One would think the mysterious stranger spends
enough time observing her to learn the word that will snag Zoe’s
frenetic interest – it’s “Hello.” Nevertheless, in a bungled
carjacking meant to abduct her, he runs over a policeman and flees
the scene, leaving her to take the blame.
Fearful
of prison, Zoe agrees to participate in the electronic bracelet
program, which allows her to serve her pre-trial incarceration in a
low-rent loft (having to sell her condo to pay for her unsympathetic
attorney). This requires regular visits from Bill (Tim Blake
Nelson), the technician who installs and monitors the technology
that assures Zoe remains within the apartment. Bill, of course,
begins to fall in love with the defiant young woman who insists on
her unprovable innocence.
The story
proceeds as Zoe tries to find ways to cope with her boredom, and to
find ways of stretching the limits of her bonds. She makes friends
with a wheelchair-bound, pugnacious (and gay, and Jewish) dwarf in
the same building – albeit a limited one since she can’t go
downstairs and he can’t ascend them. Ultimately, she needs to
determine who her stalker his and get the police to catch him – for
which, in her circumscribed state, she needs allies.
Finn
Taylor’s second directorial effort is as amusing and light as the
70s and 80s pop music it uses as its soundtrack, yet it pulses with
lurking ambition to be a bigger, studio film. Watching Tunney’s
neurotic Zoe flail, one senses the role beckoning for Sandra
Bullock. Instead of Nelson as the nerdy technician, John Cusack
might have taken it on. It’s no slight to these actors, who give the
roles flesh with due diligence. It’s just that trifles like this
usually rely on the charisma of stars to smooth over such a
formulaic and frequently implausible story.
For
example, placing the attractive Tunney in a Rosanna Rosanadana
hairstyle is reminiscent of the adage that Hollywood’s idea of an
ugly woman is a beautiful one in glasses. Of course, she loses that
feature quickly once she is confined, ironing her hair to produce
her “real” look and clumsily signaling that Zoe will undergo inner
change.
As the
film proceeds, one can feel the plot points clicking into place,
like tumblers in a combination lock. First we get the character and
her need established, then the dramatic event, followed by conflicts
A, B and C. There’s little surprise or commentary here, just a sound
delivery of entertainment.
What’s
wrong with that? Well, nothing much. It’s what we get on television
all the time – for free. It’s also what we’re accustomed to having
in the summer, a jolly piece of unchallenging distraction. Still,
it’s not what one would likely expect from a small, moderate-budget
film. Cherish is bright and fun, but disappointingly average.
One might have hoped that an independent film might have made better
use of its liberty.
Seattle International Film Festival
Coverage:
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Directed
by:
Doug Liman
Starring:
Matt Damon
Franka Potente
Brian Cox
Tim Dutton
Chris Cooper.
Written by:
Tony Gilroy
William Blake Herron
Rated:
PG-13 - Parents
Strongly Cautioned.
Some
material may be
inappropriate for
children under 13.
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