San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle

Now that she's past 50, can we all stop holding Michelle Pfeiffer's looks against her and just admit that she's a great actress?

Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer

Plenty of terrible movies know how to work your tear ducts. Here's a weepie that, in Pfeiffer's performance, touches you on the highest levels.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

The success of Stephen Frears’ film Chéri begins with its casting. Michelle Pfeiffer, as Lea de Lonval, is still a great beauty.

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

Pfeiffer transcends any hint of cliché ''cougar'' voraciousness.

The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt

Actors blossom under Frears' direction. There is no false moment or off-key note in this movie.

Austin Chronicle by Kimberley Jones

They don't make women, sexy but regal, like Pfeiffer much anymore, and Cheri is quite a monument to her.

The A.V. Club by Tasha Robinson

The film is a sumptuous, handsome portrait of a woman poised fearfully on the brink of decline, yet too proud to grab at rescue.

Rolling Stone by Peter Travers

With Pfeiffer, 50, radiating uncommon beauty, grace and feeling, Frears uncovers a fragile story's grieving heart.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

A respectable and satisfying historical romantic melodrama.

Boston Globe by Ty Burr

What makes Cheri’ worth your while is that its true subjects are women and age, and its observations apply to both 19th-century France and the modern film industry.

Miami Herald by Connie Ogle

Chéri never fulfills its emotional promise.

Variety by Derek Elley

Like a passable bottle of champagne, Cheri fizzes and slides down quite easily but lacks real body and doesn't really hit the spot.

Village Voice by Melissa Anderson

Frears and Hampton's missteps begin immediately, with the director providing pinched narration as he recounts, over so many cartes de visite, the histories of other famous ladies who made a handsome living on their backs.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein

Michelle Pfeiffer is brittle in a way that's not especially French, but she's poignant and very lovely. Rupert Friend, on the other hand, is difficult to warm up to, especially with his features hidden behind all that hair. It's not a good sign when you have to take the movie's word for it that the lovers at its center are really, really into each other.

Empire by Anna Smith

This glimpse into a decadent era has its charms, but they’re mostly visual. While Pfeiffer and Friend perform well, the script is tonally confused and lacks edge.