Cherry: Spider-Man Is Far From Home In Stylish Drama

The Russo brothers have come a long way from Thanos. Their first post-Marvel directorial effort, Cherry, starring web-slinger Tom Holland, won’t inspire kids to dress up as their favourite superheroes, but is a real-life inspired tale that will take you through the ringer.

I’m pretty shocked that Cherry’s had such a ropey critical response. The age-old criticism of ‘style over substance’ appears to have been pelted at this film. For me, this wasn’t an issue. Yes, the brothers use lots of visual flair (think The Big Short and Wolf of Wall Street) to tell an ultimately sad tale, but it didn’t take away from the emotional backbone the story carried – mainly because of Holland’s performance.

I’m shocked Spider-Man wasn’t in awards contention for his efforts in Cherry. Playing a former war-vet who gets hooked on drugs after struggling with PTSD only to begin robbing banks to fund his addiction, it’s safe to say there’s a few layers to his performance. I was always with him and there’s some genuinely harrowing moments where Holland has you in the palm of his hand, whether it be on the verge of a breakdown on the phone to his wife, or being the nicest bank robber in the world.

It covers a 20 year period inside 140 minutes and people might not feel it delves deep enough into hard-hitting and often troubling issues, but I thought it did them justice – leaving me feeling sympathy for a man going through the crap, whilst doing so with an interesting style that gives the film a real edge. One of my favourite films of the year and available to watch now on Apple TV.

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