Chéri

posted by Jett Loe

What a deceptively simple and elegant director Stephen Frears is!

I had kept away from the press/previews/trailers of the latest, (return vehicle?), Michelle Pfeiffer pic ‘Chéri’ – though had picked up via ‘net osmosis’ the vague sense that it was a disappointment – one got the feeling that it ‘just wasn’t that good’.  But isolating myself from specifics of the film meant there was no idea as I settled into an old, worn seat at the Belcourt that it was directed by Stephen Frears.

This was welcome news as was slightly dreading the experience due to aforementioned osmosis.

Surprised I was by Frears name on the credits – surely this can’t be a bad film?  Has Stephen ever made a bad picture?  The gentleman behind ‘The Grifters’, ‘The Hit’, ‘My Beautiful Launderette’, ‘Dangerous Liaisons’.  J****s, this guy is a class act.

Chéri? is on a par with the rest.  The thing is, what Frears does seems so simple – or invisible, that people don’t get a handle on his craft, and so let the films drift away from them if they’re not paying attention.

See this film and pay close attention – study the carefully calibrated performances of everyone involved, Pfeffier, Kathy Bates, Rupert Friend.

See this film and observe the pawn-like nature of all involved, little pieces on a board, little china figures to be moved around.  How can you stop playing if you actually live inside the game?

Chéri is funny, witty, droll, sad and for adults.  How refreshing.

See this film and ask yourself, wouldn’t Kubrick done well with this material – and wouldn’t Frears have done a great ‘Eyes Wide Shut‘?

- – -

Chéri is at the Belcourt here in Nashville at least till the 23rd.

- – -

My only complaint?  Chéri suffers from what I call ‘CM’ disease – or ‘colour-matching’ disease.  Notice how so many films nowadays look kinda the same – super saturated with heavy blues/teals?, (see ‘Transformers’ and really all other current Hollywood offerings.

Wonder why that is?  ‘Cause folks in Post are using ‘colour-matching’ software that produces palettes saying white folks skin tones look great when matched with teal.  Don’t believe me?  Try it for yourself at Adobe’s ‘Kuler’ website, (screen-shot below).

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at 9:08 pm. It is filed under Blog, Directors, Drama, Jett Loe, Jett Loe Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.