Lea de Lonval is no ordinary cougar. Consider her a rarer breed, a lynx perhaps. But then, the actor portraying the Parisian courtesan in “Cheri” is no ordinary star.
Michelle Pfeiffer’s beauty remains startling, and her depiction of a working girl of a certain age — the Belle Epoque to be exact — is the draw of Stephen Frears’ uneven take on novelist-provocateur Colette’s tale of Lea and the callow 19-year-old of the title.
Played by Brit up-and-comer Rupert Friend, Cheri is the son of the prattling Charlotte Peloux (Kathy Bates), a former courtesan. All of 19, he’s ready to retire from a life of decadence.
Luminous but edging toward her own retirement, Lea has never been felled by love.
The two enter into a flirtation whose limits they believe they understand, only to be undone by love. When Cheri weds, each is brought up short.
Felicity Jones plays Edmee, the pretty and age-appropriate daughter of a wily colleague.
Alas, even the best of duos can suffer a setback. Here we mean Frears and writer Christopher Hampton, who made such tart work of the delicious “Dangerous Liaisons.” Yes, “Cheri” is a comedy of sorts, but that shouldn’t prevent ache.
Colette’s switcheroo of the powerful woman and a male ingenue was a bracing slap in the early 20th century. But it has been undone by the intervening years of romantic pairings. What was once provocative remains tame. (The math of “The Proposal” might occasion more brow-raising. Sandra Bullock is 44; Ryan Reynolds is 32.)
Pfeiffer is the least culpable, doing her part to make Lea the most intriguing character on screen.
Friend captures the spoiled qualities of his character. But Cheri’s vulnerability doesn’t convince.
Most vexing, the film demands that we care, yet insists — by tone and throwaway deliveries — that there is nothing truly at stake for the lovers. A narrator introduces the action with a fablelike cadence that keeps things safe and smug. Alexandre Desplat’s often buoyant score does the same. The goings-on are a bar of soap that bobs on the surface.
With nothing truly at risk of being lost, we’re left to ask, why are we here?
Directed by Stephen Frears; written by Christopher Hampton; from the books by Colette; photography by Darius Khondji; starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates, Felicity Jones, Iben Hjejle, Frances Tomelty. Rated R for some sexual content and brief drug use. 92 minutes. Opens today at the Esquire Theatre.
