Cherrybomb

Luke (Robert Sheehan) is a drug dealer following his addicted petty criminal father's footsteps. His best friend is the straight-laced Malachy (Rupert Grint) who works at the local community center. Then the daughter of the center's manager shows up and they both fall for her. Michelle (Kimberley Nixon) left London to move in with her dad who is sleeping with Michelle's friend 16 year old Donna. The two young men compete for Michelle's attention and Michelle's daddy issues create drama and mayhem. Robert Sheehan is great at these types of roles. He is both brash and sensitive. He has a real vulnerability with his characters. Rupert Grint is still trying to work out of his Harry Potter character. Kimberley Nixon seems a bit too old to play a teenager. The movie tries but doesn't quite have the edge. It's a little quirky but nothing funny. It's not great but I like the two actors. They're enough to keep me watching.

Sheehan is marvelous in this. All the lead characters were fun to watch. And who doesn't like films about drugs and stealing. Highly recommend this one!

This is basically a story about 2 boys liking the same girl, and how both try to outdo each other to impress her. It's not a new story, but it added a little difference to the common plot - the 2 guys are like magnetic opposites who happen to be best friends. Rupert Grint plays Malachy - a sensible sort who has a close and postcard-normal family and has apparently no serious problems; Robert Sheehan (still good but this is not his best work) is Luke, a drug dealer with an addict father and dealer-boss brother, whom you look at and wonder why he isn't more screwed-up than he already appears to be. Kimberly Nixon is Michelle, the girl they're trying to impress and bed, but her performance was the lousiest of the 3. The first half builds properly. It was fun to see how they tried to outdo each other in order to impress the girl. There was also a bit of family drama (for Luke and Michelle at least) thrown in - something I thought would lead to more exploration in the second half. Alas, the next half of the movie let me down. I couldn't feel more for the characters than the little I already did, and I felt like I was meant to as the film progresses towards its climax. It spent too little time exploring the changing dynamics between the friends, and it failed to convince me how the friends could seemingly be driven apart so easily. The ending wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. A few other things I took issue with: film editing left something to be desired, camera work needed improvement, the film could have been scored better, the actors chosen better (they seemed to be chosen based on their popularity than their suitability for the film). 5.5/10

Like most of you, I am a Harry Potter fan and stumbled upon this movie while seeing what Rupert Grint was up to. I thought he was easily the most talented actor of the trio, and was curious to where his career would go - Emma Watson has modeling and fashion, Dan Radcliffe seems to be doing Broadway and other types of media. Anyway, The movie is centered around two best friends - Malachy (Grint) and Luke (Sheehan). They live a regular yet drug-infused life of a teenager. Malachy is a loved son with responsibility and a job. Luke, however, is the product of a broken home and as a result is left by himself for the most part - fueling the chaos. Malachy's boss' daughter, Michelle, comes to live with him and the two friends immediately fight for her. The love between the friends is obvious throughout the movie, despite frequent fights. Malachy ends up falling for Michelle, and when she reveals she is leaving and therefore cannot start a relationship he works harder for even a moment of love. The ending is pretty surprising, a solid twist. I didn't like the directing at all. Throughout the movie there is white text that flashes across the screen with phrases that don't seem to make sense. Are they the character's thoughts? words? Narrator's hints? It was unnecessary. The writing was pretty good, a lot of things were unnecessary and unexplained, but some can argue that is just a style that was intentional - perhaps even liked by many viewers. The ending sort of drops off, leaving unclear of the fate of the trio. Again, it may be intentional, but it was far too abrupt and didn't close the movie in the way I would have liked. The highlight of this movie is the acting. Without a doubt. Every person in this movie is believable and brilliant. Grint did not disappoint and played the character flawlessly. Even when he is not the focus of the shot, he stays in character and even his gestures are consistent and spot on. Sheehan was the biggest surprise to me. I have no idea who he is, haven't seen him before, but he really made the movie for me. The mix of charisma, a character with a chip on his shoulder, and the overall development of his character is apparent with every word, gesture, and smirk. I look forward to seeing him in future films. Overall, if you are a Harry Potter fan, you will appreciate Grint's performance and probably like the movie. The acting made the shortcomings of the movie less obvious and entertaining. However, this is not a movie meant for a young audience. It is riddled with drugs, sex, violence, and bad language.