Good performances but little drama in ‘Chéri’

Director: Stephen Frears

Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Felicity Bates, Kathy Bates

Cert: 15

A romantic drama set in 1920s Paris where a former courtesan, the now wealthy Lea (Pfeiffer), is asked by Bates to educate her callow 19-year-old son Fred (Friend) in the ways of love, women and the world.

Her task is made difficult when Lea and Fred fall in love, even though she pushes him into a cold marriage to Edmee (Jones).

Such a plot might have been better developed - exploring properly the nature of love and the people we fall in love with - but while the central performances of Pfeiffer and Friend, excellent as the unlovely Fred, a young man as shallow as a saucer of water, are strong there is a lack of chemistry between them that robs the film of drama.

It does look good, though.

Star Rating: 3/5