Sep 27 2009
Fan Reviews from LA Irish Film Festival
Last night, Cherrybomb had its premiere festival screening in the United States at the Los Angeles Irish Film Festival!
We’ve received a few reviews from attendees since then, and are posting them here to share! Also important to note is the launch of the official Cherrybomb website: http://www.cherrybombmovie.net
Jen’s Review:
I thought it was a great film and was quite artistic. The characters were deep and all the actors and directors (Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn) really made the film. Rupert Grint was great. He and the other actors shared a range of emotions through out the film. I thought it was a great film and really nice to see Rupert Grint in a more dramatic and grown up role. He’s always a very lovable character.
Marguerite’s Review:
The movie was so very wonderful! I don’t want to ruin it by going too much into detail but, the movie really portrays the strong friendship between Rupert [Grint]’s and Robert Sheenan’s characters. The way the movie was edited made it so nice and fresh. The character’s wardrobe also didn’t go unnoticed. Honestly, the “Cherrybomb” clips that have hit the internet really show you a lot about the movie. The crowd reacted very well to it. Everyone was laughing and enjoying the movie. After the movie ended the directors came up and answered some questions. Unfortunately, they didn’t talk a lot about Rupert or the actors. Though they did say that before filming, there were days that the 3 main actors and the two directors would sit in a room looking through the script and discussing the characters and their depth. An audience member asked the directors if the movie would get a chance to be on DVD because it’s very good. The directors said that hopefully it would get a chance to be and joked saying that they should start their commentary for the DVD. Overall, it was a very worthwhile night. The movie is very good and worth seeing!
JSantos’s Review
Cherrybomb was a good film, I really enjoyed the style that the film was shot and edited. It fit perfect with the story, and really the acting was great. Although I’m a Rupert fan and I was cheering for him, internally I knew that Robert Sheehan’s performance stole the show. I really liked his body language in the film and some of the more dramatic scenes with him. Rupert, of course, was great but he plays the most normal of the bunch, or so he seems! My only thing with the movie, and I think it will be different of course with others, is that I would rarely ever feel connected to the actors. I liked their fears and shields, but it was hard to like the characters and understand them sometimes. Maybe I should watch the movie again. The Music was by far my 3rd favorite thing about the film (first being the direction, second being the acting and actors). My least favorite was the climax, and of course the sudden ending, though I understand that many probably like that.
Anyway the film was still good and fun to watch, at points I forgot it was Rupert Grint “that guy from Harry Potter.” I hope he continues to come out in more diverse roles like this.
[Lisa Baros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn] make a great team; keep an eye on them. Their story is fantastic and their talent is gonna drive them somewhere good.
Heather’s Review
My sister and I were fortunate enough to see Cherrybomb during the L.A. Irish Film Festival. The theater was small, with a little more than 50 people in attendance. Three films were shown, with Cherrybomb shown second. The movie was extremely well done and Rupert did an excellent job. Rupert plays the role of Malachy, a character that is about as far away from Ron as you can get. He did a great job speaking with a Northern Irish accent. There were a few times where he lost the Irish accent and reverted back to his British one. Those occasions did not affect or distract from his acting. The chemistry Rupert had with his co-stars was outstanding. It was obvious that he was comfortable acting along side them and also comfortable with them in real life.
The Q & A with directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn was very fascinating. Cherrybomb is the first feature length film these directors have made, their previous efforts were 2 short films. The film was shot in 24 days in Belfast. A week before they began filming, D’Sa and Leyburn along with Grint, Sheehan, and Nixon spent time rehearsing and talking about the characters. They wanted to understand where each character was coming from and the motivation for their actions.
D’Sa and Leyburn did not mention Rupert very much, however. They did say that he along with Sheehan and Nixon were outstanding and did an excellent job with their characters. The main focus of the film is the friendship between Malachy (Grint) and Luke (Sheehan). D’Sa and Leyburn wanted the character of Michelle (Nixon) to have as much weight as the other two main characters. They praised Nixon for bringing vulnerability to a character that would normally seem cold and heartless. The directors truly found three actors who could bring intelligence and heart to the characters. The indirectness of the love scene was also mentioned during the Q & A. D’Sa and Leyburn wanted to show the scene through Malachy’s eyes. It was a beautiful thing for Malachy’s character and real emotions were at play during this scene.
The title of the movie and the early drafts of the script were also addressed. Originally the movie was called Sin’s Prey and it followed two boys breaking the seven deadly sins. However, after talks with writer Daragh Carville the story came to be what is shown in the film. D’Sa and Leyburn originally wanted to incorporate the Runaway’s song “Cherry Bomb” in the movie and thought it would be an excellent title for the film. They revealed that the title is a metaphor for the character of Michelle due to the fact that she is a wild girl.
D’Sa and Leyburn said that there will definitely be a DVD with a commentary. Overall, the film was excellent. All three actors did a wonderful job portraying their characters. If you have the chance to see this film, I highly recommend that you see it!
Miho’s Review
Anyone who saw Cherrybomb was undoubtedly reminded of many, or at least a few, of the emotions and behaviors they felt or engaged in during their own teenage years: rebel against parents and authority, desperate desire to just have fun and not think about the consequences, anxiety about future, lusting after a boy/girl, starting to really care about him/her, enjoying the company of one’s best friend, competing against such friend… All these emotions were fantastically played by the three main actors, particularly Sheehan and Grint.
The film had some slow moments, notably the party scenes. But it surely showed the blossoming talents of the young actors as well as the directors, who had no experience making a feature-length film prior to Cherrybomb.
Fan Responses from the RupertGrint.net Twitter
“I got the chance to see Cherrybomb last night and it was AMAZING!!!!!” -MizzLo
“Saw Cherrybomb last night and was impressed. It was a good movie and the actors were great!” -jrblair25