Cherish

I can't lavish enough praise on Robin Tunney for her brilliant portrayal as Zoe. I never really had an opinion on Ms. Tunney before "Cherish", as I usually saw her in forgettable movies like "Vertical Limit" and "The Craft", but she blew me away in this one. Robin nails all the necessary emotions. In one scene, I actually had to fight back tears as Robin's Zoe begs a delivery-man to stay with her because her isolation has left her so starved for company. In another scene, Robin's Zoe had me laughing hysterically as she tormented the tightly-wound Bill by roller-skating around her apartment while he tries to examine the bracelet. There are many other wonderful moments as well...the kind-hearted Zoe befriending the crippled man who lives below her...the once-weak Zoe becoming fiercely independent...it's impossible to not fall in love with Zoe. Robin Tunney grabs your attention as soon as she hits the screen and doesn't let go until the ending credits. Plus, there is the incredible chemistry between Robin's Zoe and Tim's Bill. In fact, according to the commentary, a growing romance between Zoe and Bill was originally not in the script, but was added in during filming because the director was so impressed by the chemistry between the two main actors. I guarantee you will be mesmerized by this movie.

So if I enjoyed watching this movie so much, why did I only give it 4 stars? Well, my biggest problem with this movie was that I felt it really fell apart in the last few minutes and had a very unsatisfying ending. As many of the other reviewers have mentioned, the "Zoe stalking her stalker" scenes were not nearly as interesting as what had happened before. And while I won't give away the ending, I'll say this... a key character does some completely illogical towards the end, and this leads to a disappointing ending. There was no reason for this character doing what they did, except that the director was apparently trying to go for a twist at the end. In fact, one of the people in the commentary mentions that every person who asks them about the movie asks why that character did that at the end. NOTE TO DIRECTOR: If everyone asks for someone to clear up the same point, then you didn't do a very good job conveying this on-screen.

Another problem is that while it's a very entertaining movie, it is also very uneven and inconsistant at times. You often wonder why characters are acting the way they are. A perfect example is when Bill defends Zoe after a police officer makes a rude comment to her...and then Zoe "thanks" bill by screaming at him and throwing him out...yet in their very next scene together, Zoe is warm and openly flirts with Bill...did we miss something that happened inbetween? And I the found it odd that at the beginning of the movie, Zoe was supposedly unable to keep a man around for longer than one date as they never called her back, yet every man who meets Zoe in this movie almost instantly falls in love with her??? The commentary reveals what I already suspected...a lot of this movie is improvised by the actors, and as a result, the movie feels uneven and it doesn't always flow well.

So to summarize, I would definitely recommend this movie, mainly because of the incredible acting. (Robin Tunney easily deserved an Oscar for her perfect performance) The movie is sometimes funny, sometimes dramatic, and always compelling. However, be warned that the end is somewhat unsatifying, and you may be better off just shutting the movie off once Zoe starts stalking her stalker. Yes, the movie is flawed, but if you watch it for what it is (an incredible character study), you'll fall in love with it just like I did. I can't wait for Robin Tunney's next starring role.

So, like, watch this movie if you want to see a house arrest/thrilla movie with an Übercute actress playing a cute character who likes kewl 80s tuñez.