Tom Holland’s critically panned movie gets high points for accuracy from a military expert. Having directed Holland as Spider-Man in the MCU, Joe and Anthony Russo took the helm on the star’s 2021 drama, telling the story of a struggling Iraq War veteran turning to a life of crime in order to support his wife’s drug habit. The Apple TV+ film didn’t click with critics, however, as reflected in its 37% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Holland’s attempt to prove his dramatic chops may have failed to impress critics or audiences, but 2021’s Cherry did make an impression on a military expert and real life war veteran, who gave the film solid marks for realism. In a video for Insider, Jay Dorleus breaks down the film’s depiction of what it was like to be under fire in Iraq, praising the movie for getting a lot of details right as regards enemy tactics, military hardware and the dangers of landmines. Check out his remarks below (around 4:37 of the clip):
So that’s what we call indirect fire, meaning the enemy is anywhere from 2 to 300 feet away and they are launching mortar rounds. Either 60s or 81 mm mortars towards the convoy. It’s a tactic that the enemy used a lot, because they set up the IED, and then once it goes off it disables the convoy – the convoy being all the vehicles that are moving through – and then they’re able to lob mortars and cause additional damage.
Having a turret system which allows you to…shift the gun from left to right is beneficial because it allows you to transition from covering your element as it moves.
He either hit a landmine, and the landmine had to be situated just right…around the fuel tank for it to cause that big of a fireball. But in this situation right here, the only thing I could think of is, he ran over a landmine. Landmines were very common to find in Iraq. One of my first missions was actually low crawling to a landmine and going through my procedures as a 12 Bravo to dispose of it. It’s all left over munitions from previous conflicts that that country has been part of.
So they’re digging fighting positions. Fighting POS, especially in an open terrain like this, digging that hole gives them the ability to lay down and essentially hide from the enemy. It gives them cover, and all they’ve got to do then is just pop up and then engage enemy while their body is still concealed.
I would give this a seven.
Why Did Holland’s Cherry Get Such Bad Reviews
The Russo Brothers struck box office gold behind-the-camera on MCU blockbusters Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The directors’ non-MCU output has, however, largely struck out with audiences and critics alike. With a background in sitcoms, the Russos excel at handling the light-hearted moments that happen in between action sequences in huge superhero movies, but when it comes to directing intense real-life drama, they largely come up short.
The problems with Cherry may not be so much in the direction, however, as in the script, which leans heavily on clichés in telling its story. Then there’s the performance of Holland, an actor who is incredibly likable as Peter Parker, but perhaps not all that believable when called upon to portray the psychological complexities of a character like Cherry’s titular struggling soldier, a man pushed to extremes by the hard realities of his life.
The Russos may have failed at getting a memorable dramatic performance out of Holland, but at least according to one expert, they did a good job in the war movie sequences of Cherry. Perhaps that true dramatic breakout remains in Holland’s future, or perhaps he’ll never escape being associated with the MCU and Spider-Man.
Cherry
Created for Apple TV+, Cherry is a film adaptation of the drama novel that sees Tom Holland play the role of “Cherry,” a young man who meets the love of his life but continues to make destructive life decisions, jeopardizing his happiness and relationship. After returning from the Iraq war, Cherry’s adjustment to citizen life is marked with PTSD and addiction as he continues to enter a life of complete self-destruction.
- Director
- Joe Russo , Anthony Russo
- Release Date
- February 26, 2021
- Studio(s)
- Apple
- Distributor(s)
- Apple
- Writers
- Jessica Goldberg , Angela Russo-Otstot
- Cast
- Jamie Brewer , Jeff Wahlberg , Tom Holland , Kelli Berglund , Adam Long , Jack Reynor , Fionn O’Shea , Forrest Goodluck , Ciara Bravo , Jose Pablo Cantillo , Pooch Hall , Suhail Dabbach , Nicole Forester , Thomas Lennon , Michael Gandolfini
- Runtime
- 141minutes
- Budget
- $40 million
