Chéri

I'm not sure if this movie is a fantasy for young men or older women. All I know is that while I was watching the movie I kept thinking that my friend Twinkie would L.O.V.E. this movie. This morning I sent her an email asking if she had seen the movie, she had not, but she replied that she just watched the trailer and she totally agrees that she would love this movie.

Chéri stars Michelle Pfeiffer, the still-attractive 51 year old starlet of Scarface, Grease 2, Dangerous Minds, and Batman Returns fame. Set in the 1920's in France, no longer the 1950's of Los Angeles, and no longer the young Stephanie Zinone of the Pink Ladies, she is now Lea de Lonval, the madame of gentlemen.

Across town, Madame Peloux, played by Kathy Bates, is the mother of Chéri (Rupert Friend), a dandy of a young man with absolutely no ambition in life. Madame Pelous wants de Lonval to take him under her wings, per se, to help him to....become a man, per se.

The arrangement is to last for several weeks, after which time Chéri would be ready to find his bride. However, Chéri ends up spending many years, not weeks, with de Lonval to the point that they are like husband and wife. When time comes for Chéri to leave, de Lonval realizes that she is no longer his teacher, but finds herself in love with him.

Also staring in the movie is Felicity Jones as Edmee, Chéri's bride-to-be, who is quite easy on the eyes.

The movie has a lot of almost nudity, a little real nudity (Chéri), a lot of sex, though never more than a butt, thus giving the movie its R Rating.

Directed by Stephen Frears who is known for The Queen, High Fidelity, and Dangerous liaisons, Chéri is 93 minutes long.

Chéri is just an average movie for me. Though I found the ending a bit humorous, I did think it was a quick out. However, if you are a chick and you like romantic dramas bordering on comedies, you surely would enjoy this movie. If you are into action heroes, explosions, and wild nudity, this ain't your movie. Chéri gets 3 stars from me.

Rumor Has It

This is one of those movies that ties its story-line to another movie, sort of like how Sleepless In Seattle followed the 1957 hit An Affair To Remember staring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. In Rumor Has It, Jennifer Aniston's character Sarah Huttinger suspects that the her family is the subject of the 1967 movie The Graduate, which starred a young Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.

Throughout her life, Sarah suspects that something's just not right. She looks like no one in her family and she acts nothing like them. Then at her sister's wedding she starts to hear rumors. She then decides to investigate those rumors and learns more than she really wanted to know, especially about her mom. And, of course, she needs to find out everything before her own wedding to Mark Ruffalo, who rolls with Buffalo.

In the process, she meets the man that her mother met before her mother got married. This seedy old guy, played by Kevin Costner, has his own secrets and is interested in making some more secrets.

The movie is a clever play on The Graduate. Having seen The Graduate makes Rumor Has It a lot more understandable, so if you plan on seeing Rumor Has It, watch The Graduate first. The acting is as you would expect from your typical romantic comedy. And, being labeled a romantic comedy, it has to turn out as expected, right?

The movie is directed by Rob Reiner and you'll be happy to know that there are no left-wing punches at the right in the movie. The movie also stars Shirley MacClaine, whose brother is so vain, as Sarah's grandmother and Kathy Bates as one of Sarah's mother's friends.

As far as romantic comedies go, this one is okay. There is some nonconformist sexual situations and a drug use giving the movie a PG-13 rating, the standard for romantic comedies.

You won't lose much by missing this movie, but if you have some time to burn, this one's not too bad. I give this movie 3 stars.