Cherry

"Cherry" is the Russo Brothers' first film post "Avengers Endgame", which is currently the highest grossing film of all time, and it's a strange choice to be completely honest. Tom Holland stars as a young, troubled man who becomes a drug addict after a traumatic experience serving as a medic in the army. The weirdest thing about this movie is trying to figure out why THIS was such an important story to tell...The vibe of the film is very familiar with exposition being given directly to the camera from Holland. It's gloomy feel while fitting for the story always keeps the audience at arm's length with little to hold on to for this nearly 2 1/2 hour film. Given that the Russo Brothers directed this, a little less than halfway one gets the feeling of being in an alternate universe where you're watching a scenario where Martin Scoresese directed "Jarhead".

To say this movie is uneven would be an understatement. The thinly written characters are given a valiant effort by Holland and Ciara Bravo who plays his wife and partner in crime when they start abusing drugs. There are weird peripheral characters that come and go usually with violent results that are more jarring than captivating. If Michael Gandolfini's performance as Cousin Joe is an indication of his acting skills, then we might be in a bit of trouble with "The Many Saints of Newark".

I've definitely spent over two hours in better ways. While I've been a fan of Holland since seeing him in "The Impossible", he is miscast here. He's still got his Peter Parker accent but struggles to earn the hard edge that is required for his character. Not sure why this was a story based on Nico Walker's memoir was worth telling more than any other real life stories about the lengths addicts will go to get their fix. When Holland begins robbing banks, it feels like you're suddenly watching a Lifetime movie. At the end of the day, I can't justify encouraging others to spend time navigating Apple TV+ to watch this. To follow up one of the best films I've ever enjoyed in the theater (in my opinion) with this is incredibly disappointing. I'm hoping some of that Russo magic returns in whatever they choose for their next project.

Dogshit

-Brandon Collins