man, this was a movie that clearly wanted to be a movie, but wasn't sure how. instead cherry is turned by a host of flaws into depression porn, trying to bring the audience down with the lows without delving much beyond the surface of what those lows actually mean. that's not on the cast; tom holland and ciara bravo are great as the titular (actually unnamed) man based in nico walker and the man's girlfriend emily. they channel everything they have in an attempt to lift this script, which gets the lion's share of the blame. the screenplay displays an attention to characterization that would make the 1980s-era slasher films seem like full-blown character studies by comparison. we don't know much of anything about cherry or emily beyond the surface words or the voiceover narration given by holland in character. they only have depth because the actors dig as deep as they can, then go a little further. and the rest of the characters don't even get that level of character. it's not all on the script, though. joe and anthony russo are fine directors on a technical level, and i'm fully willing to believe they have a great drama in them. this ain't it. the two pay more attention to style than they do to thematic storytelling and the film suffers badly as a result. it's clear they wanted to do something unique and they have things to say here; they even try to lean into the themes of what the american infrastructures of war, health care, and capitalism do to the young and poor in this country. but they undermine themselves with the cool technical flourishes, and they can't get around the fact that outside of our leads no character is interesting or admirable enough to stick. some of their visual touches work, but others like the interstitial chapter cards just reek of an idea that was better left on the floor. there's too much in this story that feels too familiar to make a connection to. and one could argue that maybe this isn't the fault of the film, being based on the life of a real guy. but even a cursory googling -- or even the fact that names were changed and scenes ring hollow -- make it clear this is honestly as much fiction as it is fact. and that's fine, but if the script is going to play that fast and loose it can avoid being so much of a series of tropes and familiar scenes strung into each other. for a 141 minute film, this film really brushes over any particular scene or detail almost as if it's afraid to stand on its own. holland and bravo can walk away from this film feeling proud of their work, but all in all cherry is a big misfire.