Review of Under the Cherry Moon

Gosh, this was terrible. I was never a Prince fan but I thought I'd catch the film today seeing as how he was close to a cultural icon. The movie doesn't appear to be anything more than a vanity showcase for Prince and his co-stars, whose posturing, preening and mugging dominate the picture to the point of nauseum. Not to mention all the glam outfits in an ostentatious display of people in the top one percent carrying on their ridiculous lives. As for the story, cousins Christopher Tracy (Prince) and Tricky (Jerome Benton) scan the society pages to see who they can scam to support their lifestyle, and seemingly hit the jackpot when Mary Sharon (Kristin Scott Thomas) reaches her twenty first birthday and stands to come into her trust fund of fifty million dollars. Just short of the type of parody The Beatles and Monkees achieved with their movies, "Under the Cherry Moon" finds Chris falling in love with his wealthy target, while Jerome momentarily fumes at being left behind. For Mary's parents, it's kind of a split decision. Isaac Sharon (Steven Berkoff) is aghast at the prospect of a potential marriage, while mom Muriel (Alexandra Stewart) attempts to buy Chris off with a hundred grand, but then tells him where and when their daughter is flying to New York so he can intercept her and continue the romance. I don't know about anyone else, but the kissing scenes between Prince and Thomas didn't exactly look like they were actually interested in each other; their mouths were close lipped each time as far as I could tell. I had better expectations for this film than what it delivered, and in the future, I'll stick to the occasional Youtube video of Prince where he knows what he's doing.