Cherry [2021]

Tom Holland is everything in Cherry. He’s carrying the whole movie on his shoulders. The good and not so good parts.

Cherry is the first project after the famous Avengers: Endgame for both the star and directors (Anthony Russo, Joe Russo) of this movie. However, the movie divided both audiences and critics. Tom Holland’s character isn’t really given a name during the whole 2.5h run of the movie. However, he’s the main actor and narrator and it gave the story telling a nice twist.

Divided into chapters, Russo brothers explore the post Iraq-War PTSD suffered by veterans. Sadly, the exploration of war, love and drugs falls a bit flat. For the first half, we speed along with such obvious empathy for the subject, and bitterness for the regime which make it’s difficult to fault the directors for biting off more than they could chew.

The direction is amazing, Tom does an excellent job portraying a veteran with PTSD that turns into drugs to “cope” with his mental health issues after a VA doctor prescribes Oxycodon to him. He deserves some awards nominations AT LEAST!

However, someone turning into drugs should have been a more critical issue in a movie than robbing banks to pay a drug debt. Yes, robbing banks for drugs pushes “Cherry” (that’s what i decided to call Holland’s character) into a downward spiral, but the trigger was GETTING INTO DRUGS. Sadly, the movie speeds thru pivotal moments like a robber being chased by cops.

Should you watch it?

Cherry is much longer than it needs to be to tell this story. At one point, the film felt like it had about 15 minutes to go, but I looked, and it had 50 more minutes.

Cherry has a grand statement to make about America today, including urban hopelessness, the broken promises to soldiers, the opioid epidemic, toxic masculinity, and much more. And while it lacks fancy special effects, Tom Holland shines as a serious actor who gives you everything you need and more.

Where can I watch it?

You can stream Cherry exclusively on AppleTV+.