Someday a movie is going to be made that will take us inside the adult film industry to show us the reality of what goes on there, and what happens to the people who operate within it. When that film comes, let us hope that it answers the most basic fundamental questions that we the audience will have: How and why does someone get into that industry? What is their home life like? How does it effect their married life? What about their children? Are they worried about raising children while explaining what mommy does for a living? Are they worried about AIDS? How do you move into other profession while still carrying the stigma of being a "porn star" along with you? What happens when you reach the inevitable age when you are no longer sexy and photogenic? What then? That movie is still to be made because clearly "About Cherry" answers none of these questions. Here is a movie that promises sex but plays like a dull soap opera with a little nudity thrown in here and there. It claims to be a portrait of one woman's journey into becoming an adult film star but comes off as slow, uninteresting and anti-climactic. It doesn't have any characters for us to care about nor any of the "good parts" that a lot of moviegoers will be hoping for.
The movie stars Ashley Hinsaw as Angelina, a twenty-something who lives at home with her alcoholic mother (Lili Taylor) and her mom's abusive boyfriend. That situation is hardly explored at all. We see the mother hugging the toilet and the boyfriend stomping about the house like an angry bear (we see him only in shadow). Then we briefly meet Angelina's little sister whom she cares about but not enough to get her out of this unhappy household.
One day, cash-strapped Angelina gets a slight suggestion from her current boyfriend (Jonny Weston), that she try a nude photoshoot with a company that runs a porn site. Why not? It might be an easy way to make money. She does and with the money packs up her things and heads for San Francisco with her best friend Andrew (Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire).
In The City by the Bay, she goes to a lavish party where she meets two people. First is Francis (James Franco), a lawyer with cocaine addiction, who gives her expensive dresses and takes her to lavish parties. He soon becomes her new boyfriend. The other is Margaret (Heather Graham), who directs porn films and suggests that Angelina might perfect to star in her next film. It isn't long before she finds herself embroiled in the business under the name Cherry.
What happens next is exactly what you expect. Angelina gets involved in the adult film industry and starts making money. As she does, all kinds of problem begin stirring up in her personal life. The problem is that they are all problems that we can predict before the movie starts. It is a surprise that Francis has a problem with her profession? Is it a surprise that mom comes to visit, finds out about her new career and abandons her? Is it a surprise that questions arise about Angelina's real age? Is it a surprise that she catches Andrew having a good time with one of her movies? Do you care about any of this stuff? It is difficult to care because none of this stuff is the least bit interesting, especially a badly written subplot involving Margaret's relationship with her lover Jillian that breaks up over questions of Angelina's age. Their breakup scene, in which they have angry sex, is silly and awkward and disturbingly voyeuristic.
"About Cherry" comes from first-time director Stephen Elliott who co-wrote the screenplay with real-life porn star Lorelei Lee. Their script is a mess. They want to comment on the scummy world of the porn business but Elliot employs a soundtrack that romanticizes it. The movie off-sets a few fleeting sex scenes (very few) with dramatic moments that contain long passages of meaningless dialogue.
As for the sex, there are only a handful of scenes showing Angelina in front of the camera but they are all shot in a sleazy voyeuristic way that goes nowhere runs way too short to be of any interest. Yes, there is some nudity and Miss Hinsaw is very attractive, but we get the sense that the director has gotten caught up in the moment and forgotten that he is suppose to be making a point. The end of the film, when Angelina's world has completely come apart is - much like the rest of the film - one of the most confounding conclusions you'll ever experience.
American films that explore sex with even an ounce of maturity are so rare that it is heartbreaking when an attempt goes bad. Here was a movie that had the potential to ask a lot of questions and explore a subject that we might have found interesting, but blows the opportunity at every turn. We are not far into this movie before we realize that "About Cherry" isn't really about anything at all.
The movie stars Ashley Hinsaw as Angelina, a twenty-something who lives at home with her alcoholic mother (Lili Taylor) and her mom's abusive boyfriend. That situation is hardly explored at all. We see the mother hugging the toilet and the boyfriend stomping about the house like an angry bear (we see him only in shadow). Then we briefly meet Angelina's little sister whom she cares about but not enough to get her out of this unhappy household.
One day, cash-strapped Angelina gets a slight suggestion from her current boyfriend (Jonny Weston), that she try a nude photoshoot with a company that runs a porn site. Why not? It might be an easy way to make money. She does and with the money packs up her things and heads for San Francisco with her best friend Andrew (Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire).
In The City by the Bay, she goes to a lavish party where she meets two people. First is Francis (James Franco), a lawyer with cocaine addiction, who gives her expensive dresses and takes her to lavish parties. He soon becomes her new boyfriend. The other is Margaret (Heather Graham), who directs porn films and suggests that Angelina might perfect to star in her next film. It isn't long before she finds herself embroiled in the business under the name Cherry.
What happens next is exactly what you expect. Angelina gets involved in the adult film industry and starts making money. As she does, all kinds of problem begin stirring up in her personal life. The problem is that they are all problems that we can predict before the movie starts. It is a surprise that Francis has a problem with her profession? Is it a surprise that mom comes to visit, finds out about her new career and abandons her? Is it a surprise that questions arise about Angelina's real age? Is it a surprise that she catches Andrew having a good time with one of her movies? Do you care about any of this stuff? It is difficult to care because none of this stuff is the least bit interesting, especially a badly written subplot involving Margaret's relationship with her lover Jillian that breaks up over questions of Angelina's age. Their breakup scene, in which they have angry sex, is silly and awkward and disturbingly voyeuristic.
"About Cherry" comes from first-time director Stephen Elliott who co-wrote the screenplay with real-life porn star Lorelei Lee. Their script is a mess. They want to comment on the scummy world of the porn business but Elliot employs a soundtrack that romanticizes it. The movie off-sets a few fleeting sex scenes (very few) with dramatic moments that contain long passages of meaningless dialogue.
As for the sex, there are only a handful of scenes showing Angelina in front of the camera but they are all shot in a sleazy voyeuristic way that goes nowhere runs way too short to be of any interest. Yes, there is some nudity and Miss Hinsaw is very attractive, but we get the sense that the director has gotten caught up in the moment and forgotten that he is suppose to be making a point. The end of the film, when Angelina's world has completely come apart is - much like the rest of the film - one of the most confounding conclusions you'll ever experience.
American films that explore sex with even an ounce of maturity are so rare that it is heartbreaking when an attempt goes bad. Here was a movie that had the potential to ask a lot of questions and explore a subject that we might have found interesting, but blows the opportunity at every turn. We are not far into this movie before we realize that "About Cherry" isn't really about anything at all.