Cherrybomb (2009)

First of all, I have spoken to a few people who have seen the movie, and their opinions have been very different. Some people may see this movie as a "boring and slow movie with no real storyline", and others as "a movie with much emotion, and with characters you can relate to". I believe some people who thinks it's a bad movie, didn't really watch it attentively. How cliché this may sound, I think you can't really understand the movie if you watch it with your heart "closed". The first time I watched this movie, I was a bit bored and watched without really taking the information in. Therefore I was a bit confused at the end, like "was that it?". However, after watching it another time I was in love! The storyline in this movie is very simple and unoriginal - about two boys competing over a girl - but the atmosphere and mood in this movie is, in my opinion, very special. The actors (especially the main characters Malachy and Luke, played by Rupert Grint and Robert Sheehan) are doing a very good job showing the emotional struggle both of them carry. Especially a sad scene with Luke after a fight with both his best friend, the girl he's attracted to, and his father. You really feel with the characters. This, together with great soundtracks, makes this an excellent movie.The main characters Malachy and Luke are very different from each other. Malchy is the "good guy" with the good grades and a normal family. However, he doesn't want people to see him as nothing more than "mom's little good boy", and drinks, swears and does other things to make people notice that he is more than that. His best friend Luke (whom I personally, think is the more interesting character) is his opposite. Luke seems to be a carefree boy with a bit of an attitude. However, his older brother is a businessman, and makes Luke and his father sell drugs for their living. In short, Lukes father is a mess. He never was a real father to Luke. So (without really showing it) Luke really treasures Malachy, as he's one of the few people who cares about him and accepts him as he is. Through out the movie, you realize that Luke loves Malachy more than Malachy loves him back. Luke is a quirky and a bit tragic character, nevertheless you can't resist liking him.Michelle (played by Kimberely Nixon) is the girl which Malachy and Luke compete over. She is not a beauty, just very cute, which makes the story more realistic. Despite the self-confidence she shows outwards, she really is an insecure girl. Both of her parents doesn't have time for her, and her dad is sleeping with her 16 year old friend (which she finds out later in the movie). With those factors, the reason why she willingly made Malachy and Luke crazy about her becomes clear, as she never received the love she needed at home.For Luke, getting Michelle to bed was just a game. He was not a person strong enough mentally for a relationship. However, Malachy developed a strong liking to Michelle. This scares Luke, as Malachy starts to strive for Michelle and forgets about Luke. Malachy never really realized what an emotional struggle he carries, yet Michelle assumed. When Michelle needed to return to London (after only staying for 3 days), Malachy wanted to come with her. When being asked about Luke, and answering with a careless "he can manage without me", she responds "do you reckon?". In short, I think this is a very simple, yet very interesting movie, with many aspects. There are many things I could tell about this movie, but it would be too long, and too boring to read. I really recommend this movie, yet I think this is not a movie for everyone. Not everyone will like this movie, as it is quite different from other, considered great, movies.

If you're looking for a truly forgettable film to fall asleep to, then you'd be hard pushed to beat this slow, soporific piece of celluloid...The plot plods painfully and predictably along at a pace more suited to a party political broadcast than what is laughably described as a thriller.The acting wouldn't seem out of place on a TV shopping channel or an ultra-low budget kids TV show. Admittedly, the cast didn't exactly have a whole bunch to work with: the dialogue is nothing short of dismal and the characters are so two dimensional and clichéd that it renders any empathy towards the protagonists nigh on impossible.The ending is not thrilling or exciting and overall, the story fails to impress.There is plenty of smoking, so if you are into watching people smoke and tell each other to F -OFF, then this is for you, however I was unimpressed.

Ever since I saw the trailer for this, I always thought it looked interesting. I've always liked Rupert Grint as an actor, and for me, he is the only positive factor in this mess of a film. CHERRYBOMB is littered with annoying performances, and pointless characters, who sit around with no purpose. They have virtually no motivation at all, which sadly doesn't allow you to become emotionally connected to any of the characters. I couldn't care less about what happens to any of them. It's basically just a film full of smoking. Robert Sheehan is REALLY annoying. I don't know what it is about him, but his performance in this was really irritating. I won't spoil the film for those who haven't seen it, but it's meant to build up to something big. It's such a shame there's no build up at all. It's just loads of pointless scenes thrown together serving no purpose at all. At least Grint makes this film watchable, however awful it is itself. The only I actually really liked in this film, was the drunken montage near the end of the movie. I thought that was really well done. The ending I felt was well filmed as well, but like I said, I really don't care enough to be bothered by it.

If you're looking for a truly forgettable film to fall asleep to, then you'd be hard pushed to beat this slow, soporific piece of celluloid...The plot plods painfully and predictably along at a pace more suited to a party political broadcast than what is laughably described as a thriller.The acting wouldn't seem out of place on a TV shopping channel or an ultra-low budget kids TV show. Admittedly, the cast didn't exactly have a whole bunch to work with: the dialogue is nothing short of dismal and the characters are so two dimensional and clichéd that it renders any empathy towards the protagonists nigh on impossible.Rupert Grint, who gives what is probably the best performance in the film, is about as convincing as a pound-shop wig and James Nesbitt must have either taken on the responsibility of supporting a whole troupe of licentious, crack smoking, compulsive gamblers or be so utterly desperate to escape being forever typecast as a "Cheeky Chappy" that he will LITERALLY accept any other role that he's offered... and if this isn't the case then I shudder to think how god awful the scripts he's turning down must be! I gave it a generous 2/10