It's Zoe's worst fear: being confined with only herself as company. But once alone in her apartment, she transforms from a tentative, clingy woman who looks outside herself for approval into a charming, independent woman who finds her strength within. In the process, she forms a bond with her disabled downstairs neighbor and develops a romance with deputy Bill (perfectly played by Tim Blake Nelson), who comes to tend her ankle bracelet.

This romance is the best thing about the movie. In the DVD commentary, the director (Finn Taylor) says the script originally didn't focus as much on the romance, but the chemistry between Tunney and Nelson was so good that he changed the movie to focus more on them. Many reviewers felt that the movie should have focused *completely* on that relationship, and on Zoe's inner development, instead of shifting gears into a thriller in the last 20 minutes, when Zoe runs around San Francisco trying to prove her innocence.

This movie was also attacked by several reviewers for being "unrealistic," but let's face it, what movie *is* realistic? To me, the success of a movie rests not on its ability to be "true-to-life," but on whether it creates a cohesive, engaging world and draws you into it, and this movie does that. It's very much a lonely single-chick movie, the kind that when you're depressed you can just curl up and watch it while drinking merlot and eating Duncan Hines chocolate frosting straight from the can. If you're a sucker for movies like "Next Stop Wonderland" or "While You Were Sleeping," give this one a try--it draws you into a lonely young woman's world, invites you to ponder it along with her, and makes you think it can actually be fun and charming to be lonely and bemused about life, as long as you're as cute and gutsy as Robin Tunney or as wisely sardonic as Hope Davis.

One of my complaints is that Tunney's transformation is initially sparked by changing her hairdo: one day she's a frizzy-haired frump, the next she's straightened her hair and discovered her inner bombshell. As one reviewer commented, the frizzy-haired Tunney is "Hollywood's idea of an ugly girl": a beautiful girl with glasses on. Thus her personal transformation is too easy, starting as it does from outside. I would like to have seen the same transformation without the hairdo, and without someone with as pretty a face as Tunney. It would have been more challenging, but more satisfying.

Finally, the growth arc of Tunney's character isn't depicted all that well (despite Tunney's praise of that arc in interviews). Perhaps they were trying to be subtle: we are intended to simply guess that her growth was produced by all those months of crawling up the air shaft, little by little extending the boundary of her physical world, and at the same time that of her internal world. But we don't *see* that clearly enough; it doesn't unfold smoothly; during the time she's not climbing up the air shaft, she's mainly sitting still on a chair. Right up until the final 20 minutes, she's alternately flirting with Nelson, yelling at him for simply doing his job (there's a bit too much of the victim to her at times), or sniffling to him that she's innocent. The next day, she's suddenly running around the city, tough-talking and strong-arming people to get evidence to clear her name. It would've been more engaging to see her inner strength and confidence develop bit by bit with her trips up the air shaft, and be revealed in clearer ways: for example, if she started earlier (and with more determination) to find evidence to clear her name; found ways to deal with Nelson other than yelling, flirting, or sniffling (for example, if she surprised him with some persuasive argument for her innocence); or showed her new strength by planning an act of generosity for her downstairs neighbor, instead of the other way around.

But all that said, it's still a fun hour and a half, and the look and the general mood of the movie sort of make you want to watch it again and again. There are amazing images and endearing scenes you'll remember long after the end. It's a good movie that can charm you into overlooking its various weaknesses.


Cherish is the word I use to describe (this movie)   February 3, 2003
Mark Twain (www.chismetime.com)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

Cherish became one of my favorite films of 2002. The plot is refreshing and original--An eccentric woman named Zoe (Robin Tunney of The Craft and End of Days) accused of murdering a cop, goes under house arrest with the bracelet program (the bracelet on her ankle sets off an alarm if she tries to leave her apartment), and begins an unlikely romance with Bill (Tim Blake Nelson of O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Good Girl), the lonely and lovestruck man who monitors the program. Finn Yaylor's directing is superb and the soundtrack of 80's music is absolutely fantastic. Add to that a supporting cast feauturing Jason Priestly (perhaps sending up his 90210 character?), Nora Dunn, and indie rocker Liz Phair, a suspenseful, edge-of-the-seat climax, plus a semi-shocking revelation, and you have a truly enjoyable, extremely memorable film. I loved it!!!!


Good movie   January 25, 2003
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

love it...yes it does have it's corny moments..which I noticed *quite* clearly.....But over all it's a good one...the characters are charming...Zoe is so cute..a raspy..tough kind of cute..and I loved the soundtrack..this one is worth watchin


Completely charming. A great indie date flick.   December 11, 2002
Gorman Bechard (New Haven, CT USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Alfred Hitchcock once said you can make a film using a closet as its only location if you know what you're doing. Well, the loft that is the main location of CHERISH is a lot larger than a closet, but nonetheless the filmmakers use it perfectly. The viewer never feels as trapped as Robin Tunney's beautifully developed character Zoe. (One of the best understated performances of recent memory! Made me wish we saw more of this fine actress.) The set up is quick and to the point, getting us into the loft and Zoe's head. The cinematography is always inventive, the set design imaginative, costumes perfect, and the supporting players believably weird (and with a low budget, those are very high compliments). And did I mention the soundtrack? Wow! Not being a fan of cheesy 80s music, I was a little worried, but somehow it all works. (Anyone who can make good use of a Halls & Oates song has talent!)

I first saw a preview for CHERISH while working on a movie in LA over the summer, but it opened the weekend we began filming, and I couldn't take it in. I watched it today (on its first day of DVD release), and wish now I had sucked it up, gave up a little sleep, and caught in in Santa Monica.

CHERISH is easily on my top-10 list for best movies of 2002.


Totally tubular tunes & twisted romance   September 25, 2003
Nieuki (Boston, MA United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

CHERISH is a twisted love story between a woman under house arrest, Zoë (Robin Tunney), and Bill (Tim Blake Nelson), the man who attaches her ankle-bracelet monitor. It is also a thriller -- Zoë has not committed the crime she's under arrest for and she is anxious to find the guilty party, who also happens to be her stalker. This film is a little confusing, not entirely successful, but has some noteworthy elements.

It's another great performance from Nelson, a top-notch character actor. Bill, all business in his short-sleeved dress shirts and striped ties, hardly knows what to make of Zoë, as she skates around her kitchen/roller rink, blasting tunes from the local 80's station (great soundtrack). Zoë is difficult and flirtatious, which is equally confounding and alluring for Bill. In one of my favorite Bill moments, he methodically ages a brand-new boom box for Zoë, which he 'nonchalantly' presents claiming it was an old one he had around the house.

Robin Tunney can't quite make up her mind as to Zoë's character, but it's an admirable attempt. The story first presents Zoë as the frizzy-haired neurotic outcast of her office, excluded from a coworker's hot party, falling into bed with various men who never call, with no real sense of herself. Following the trauma of her arrest she retreats into a comfortably delusional mode: dressing up in various costumes and singing into her hairdryer in the mirror. Eventually fed up with the legal process she is inspired to take a more proactive approach to her time, trying to work around the confines of her geographical limitations, first to have more physical freedom and in the process, to find her stalker.

The supporting cast is a hoot, including indie-rock goddess Liz Phair and not one, but two, Beverly Hills 90210 cast members. Jason Priestly is hilarious as the floppy-haired BMOC/object of affection of Zoë's office, particularly as presented in misty fantasy sequences.

Hardly a life-transforming experience, but worth a rental.