Cherry (2021) review (Apple TV+)

Adapted from the 2018 semi-biographical novel of the same name by Nico Walker, a US Army veteran who struggled with drug addiction to the point where he was sent to prison for a series of bank robberies that he committed to fund his drug use, Cherry isn’t exactly the kind of film that I watch regularly. That’s usually the case when it comes to films that could be described as ‘arthouse’ flicks which, simply put, is a genre that I’ve never been able to get into. While there have been a few arthouse films that I’ve liked such as 2016’s Swiss Army Man, other films such as 2017’s mother are among some of the worst films that I’ve ever seen. At the end of the day, it all depends on whether a particular arthouse film interests me or not, and in Cherry’s case, the main reason why it got my attention basically had everything to do with its directors; a pair of brothers who, like Walker, hail from Cleveland. These two mainly got their start working on highly regarded television shows such as Arrested Development and Community, but in recent years, they’ve been responsible for hit films such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and the highest-grossing film of all-time for the past two years*, Avengers: Endgame. Yes, folks, Cherry is notable for being the first big directorial outing from brothers Joe and Anthony Russo since the landmark outing that was Endgame. In fact, this film even sees them reunite with the MCU’s Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland, who stars in the lead role of a fictionalized take on Nico Walker. However, despite all the talent that’s involved both in front of and behind the camera, Cherry is, admittedly, a rather flawed crime drama despite its ambitious (and, in several cases, good-natured) intentions.

In 2002, a young man from Cleveland (Tom Holland) falls in love with one of his college classmates named Emily (Ciara Bravo). However, when she reveals to him that she has opted to transfer to a different school in Montreal, thus basically ending their relationship, the young man is so torn up about it that he decides to enlist in the U.S. Army. And while he eventually manages to rekindle his relationship with Emily to the point where the two of them get married, his experience as an Army medic in Iraq leaves him completely traumatized and stricken with a severe case of PTSD once he returns home. With no viable options to properly deal with his newfound trauma, the young man resorts to painkillers like Oxycontin, and once Emily can no longer deal with his BS, she becomes an addict as well. Unfortunately, the two of them end up getting into a precarious situation when they consume the large number of drugs that they were supposed to hold for their local drug dealer, Pills and Coke (Jack Reynor), who promptly informs them that they’re all about to face the wrath of his boss, Black (Daniel R. Hill). Thus, to settle their massive debt with Black, the young man embarks on a series of bank robberies, but as time goes on, his messed-up life only begins to spiral even further out of control than it already has.

Cherry is one hell of an ambitious crime drama and not just because it has a decently hefty runtime that’s on par with any of the Russo brothers’ MCU films. No, that runtime is simply an indicator of just how much the main protagonist goes through over the course of the film, from his time in Iraq to his drug-funding bank robberies. That said, though, because of all the material that the film goes through to tell this story, there are quite a few instances where the plot ends up being a bit too sprawling for its own good. As much as the film is a strong showcase of the Russo brothers’ talented direction, especially because of how visually driven it is, there are a few times where it either feels a bit unfocused or completely overwhelmed by its numerous plot threads. And if that weren’t enough, I’d also argue that some of these plotlines end up being far more interesting than others (and, in some cases, don’t get as much attention as they probably should’ve), such as the main protagonist’s PTSD struggles or how the string of bank robberies that he commits slowly but surely start to get messier in their execution. Ultimately, though, what really hurts Cherry is its meandering pace, which only makes this incredibly long film feel even longer. Not only that, but the film also sports a surprisingly crude tone. Now, granted, I recognize that this clearly must’ve been intentional since this is far from being a light-hearted story… and yet, the endless amount of juvenile sex jokes can admittedly be a bit much.

One of the best things that I can say about Cherry is that it’s a prime example of a film where its lead actor gets to show that they are far more than just their career-defining role. Of course, in this instance, I’m mainly referring to Tom Holland, who has spent the last several years playing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s rendition of Spider-Man but successfully disappears into the transformative role of this film’s main character. Holland does a phenomenal job of blurring the line when it comes to the process of either making his character genuinely sympathetic given the horrible things that he goes through (e.g. having to witness the death of his friends firsthand during the war) or utterly pitiful because of how much he screws up his own life. In other words, Holland’s strong screen presence allows you to find some bits of humanity within a character who’s not exactly the easiest guy to root for (sympathetic PTSD struggles notwithstanding). These complex moral dilemmas also apply to Holland’s main co-star, Ciara Bravo. While Holland’s character is obviously the main protagonist of the film, his wife Emily goes through some fascinating incidents of her own, mostly by way of her also becoming a drug addict simply because she gets fed up with her husband’s antics. Considering that this is basically her first major leading role, Bravo more than holds her own against Holland, and while their characters’ relationship is almost always rocky, they do manage to sport some solid chemistry together.

The Russo brothers have said that Cherry is arguably the most personal film that they’ve made to date, and in a lot of ways, it’s easy to see why. For starters, given the setting of its source material, they got to film it in their hometown of Cleveland, which was also something that they got to do for parts of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Not only that, but it’s also worth noting that one of the film’s credited writers is their sister, Angela Russo-Otstot. And so, with all this in mind as well as their noble efforts to accurately convey the horrors of PTSD, you can’t really fault Cherry for its ambition… ultimately, though, that same ambition is what ends up hurting it. It’s a film that tries to cover a lot of narrative ground and while it certainly has a run-time long enough to make that happen, it suffers from some incredibly sluggish pacing and often feels incredibly unfocused because of how many plot points it’s trying to juggle, with some handled far better than others. And while the film certainly succeeds at giving off an incredibly uncomfortable vibe by way of the main character’s descent into utterly messed-up territory, most of its content comes off as being a bit too crude for my tastes. Now, with all this said, this doesn’t mean that I think that the film is ‘bad’. At the very least, you can see what the Russo brothers were going for and it benefits greatly from the strong lead performances of Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo. Ultimately, though, I’d say that this needed a few more run-throughs in the editing bay to both streamline the looser parts of its narrative and liven up its pacing.

Rating: 2.5/5

(*Just a few weeks ago, a re-release in China helped push James Cameron’s Avatar back into the top spot that it had held since its initial release in 2009 before Avengers: Endgame overtook it a decade later…)

Avengers: Endgame (2019) review

(I solemnly swear that there will be no major spoilers in this review. As with every review I do, there will be a general plot synopsis, but this one will be as light on the details as possible.)

After 11 years of phenomenal world-building and an endless array of excellent cinematic outings, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally reached the pinnacle of its ambitious narrative. Sometimes it’s crazy to think that it’s been that long since Tony Stark first announced to the world that he was Iron Man… and yet, here we are. Since the release of Iron Man back in 2008, audiences have been treated to one of the most rewarding cinematic experiences of all time as the MCU has very much set the new gold standard for shared universes. Sure, the idea of a shared universe is a media concept that has been around for decades, but the MCU easily outshines almost every other film franchise of this nature when it comes to its overall narrative and the ever-expansive scope of the world that it’s created. And while not every installment of the MCU has been a masterpiece, it can also be argued that none of them have been on the level of quality as some of the superhero genre’s most infamous outings (e.g. Batman and Robin, Catwoman, Fan4stic, etc.). With all that in mind, all eyes are now on the fourth Avengers film and the final installment of what Marvel Studios has now labeled as ‘The Infinity Saga’, Avengers: Endgame. This 22^nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the second half of a storyline that has been built up for a decade and officially got underway in last year’s Avengers: Infinity War. And after that film’s jaw-dropping finale, directors Joe and Anthony Russo (AKA the Russo brothers) are now tasked with bringing this epic story to its conclusion as our heroes do “whatever it takes” to avenge their fallen comrades. What follows is, as one can only expect from an MCU film at this point, an emotionally-charged superhero epic.  

At the end of Avengers: Infinity War, the Avengers found themselves dealt with the toughest loss that they’ve ever experienced. Despite their best efforts to prevent him from acquiring all six of the cosmic power sources known as Infinity Stones, Thanos the Mad Titan (Josh Brolin) managed to collect them all and use them to accomplish his plan to wipe out half the universe with just a single snap of his fingers using the Infinity Gauntlet. Thus, in the blink of an eye, the Avengers were forced to witness several of their friends and family erased from existence. After learning where Thanos ended up going afterward, Steve Rogers AKA Captain America (Chris Evans) leads a faction of Avengers that includes Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Thor the Asgardian God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth), and new ally Carol Danvers AKA Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) to confront him. In the process, however, they discover that Thanos has destroyed the stones so that they couldn’t be used again to reverse his actions. All seems lost until Scott Lang AKA Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) manages to return from the Quantum Realm, which he had become trapped in at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp when his allies fell victim to the snap. Having learned that time operates differently in the Quantum Realm, Scott proposes that they travel back in time and find the Infinity Stones before Thanos does so that they can hopefully use them to bring back those who were lost. Thus, Cap, Tony Stark AKA Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), and the other Avengers embark on their most important mission yet, which only becomes more complicated once Thanos discovers their plan.

Avengers: Endgame is a three-hour superhero epic, and it more than warrants its hefty runtime. As a follow-up to the events of Infinity War, it perfectly illustrates the devastating effects of what’s now known as ‘The Decimation’ on the MCU and, most importantly, its main protagonists. Just like its immediate predecessor, this film is easily one of the most emotional installments of a franchise that’s been very consistent over the years with its emotional depth. Sure, it still has all the usual aspects of an MCU film, from the snappy dialogue to the vibrant visuals, but just like every other entry in the franchise, the light-hearted elements of this film rarely have any sort of noticeable impact on its dramatic moments. In this instance, the urgency of the Avengers’ mission to ensure that ‘The Decimation’ will be reversed is strongly maintained throughout, along with the fact that because this is something that can’t easily be undone, it’s clear that they will have to make some sacrifices along the way. And because this mission sees them going back in time to key moments in the franchise’s history, this film is loaded with call-backs to previous films and a wide array of cameos. Sure, some may argue that this is blatant fan-service (which, to be fair, it technically is) whose success rate will depend on how familiar one is with the franchise, but at the same time, Marvel Studios has quite frankly earned the right to show off at this point given the continuing success of their franchise. And without spoiling anything, it all leads to one of the most satisfying bits of payoff ever witnessed on film.

Almost every MCU film to date (save for Incredible Hulk) has had the same casting director, Sarah Finn, and thanks to the woman who’s quite arguably the unsung hero of the franchise, we’ve experienced one of the best ensemble casts in cinematic history who continue to shine in every film that they appear in. I mean, there’s not much more that I can add to the discussion about how great this cast is that I haven’t already mentioned in previous reviews. Given the events of the previous film, this one focuses heavily on the original six Avengers from the first film, allowing for a perfect bookend to everything that they’ve helped create while also giving each member their own standout moment as has always been the case with these films. It also helps this film manage to be a bit more consistent with its character development when compared to Infinity War which, in that film’s defense, had a lot more characters to juggle and was more focused on Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Stones. And as one era of the franchise ends, those who will be headlining it for the next few years to come are equally outstanding. Brie Larson, for example, makes the most out of her surprisingly minor role in this film (which she notably filmed BEFORE Captain Marvel), once again exemplifying Carol Danvers’ strong charisma and powerful commanding presence. And, of course, we can’t forget about the MCU’s greatest villain, Thanos. Sure, he doesn’t play as prominent of a role in this film as he did in Infinity War, but he’s still given plenty of great emotional pathos and the film continues to epitomize why he’s truly the most dangerous adversary that the Avengers have ever faced.

Let’s be frank, folks, you know exactly what rating I’m going to be giving this film. It is, after all, the exact same rating that I’ve given to nearly half of the other films in this franchise. But as always, that’s ultimately more of a testament to what Marvel Studios has managed to pull off this past decade with their ambitious franchise. If Infinity War was a masterpiece of the superhero genre, then Endgame is MCU fandom nirvana. It more than does its job at being both a follow-up to Infinity War and the climactic outing of the ‘Infinity Saga’, as it provides great conclusions to some of the franchise’s longest-running storylines and character arcs. In other words, this is very much a love letter to the MCU’s devoted fanbase as it rewards those who’ve supported it over the years, especially those who’ve been there since the very beginning, with some of the most amazing imagery that the genre has ever seen. But amidst all the epic action, great humor, and massive amounts of grand fanservice, it still does everything that we’ve come to expect from this franchise’s extensive filmography. It fully endears us to its main protagonists, provides them with a well-layered and incredibly intimidating villain to face off against, and truly hits hard when it comes to its biggest emotional moments. Simply put, everything that happens in Avengers: Endgame is exactly what it needed to be, and because of this, it properly cements the Marvel Cinematic Universe as one of the most legendary franchises in the history of film.  

Rating: 5/5!