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Prince, Steven Berkoff, Francesca Annis, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jerome Benton ... see more see more... , Emmanuelle Sallet , Alexandra Stewart , Victor Spinetti , Pamela Ludwig , Scott Allen , Guy Cuevas , Moune de Vivier , Amoury des Jardins , Karen Geerlings , Barbara Stall , Myriam Tadesse , Garance Tosello , Catherine Allard , Jean Allaz , Daniel Bensadoun , Beatrice Berthet , Roger Capello , Patrick Carocci , Christine Christen-Giguet , Claude Copola , Veronique de Noyel , Lydie Diakhate , Giselle Finazzo , Alexa Fioroni , Richard Gow , Marie Jean Julien , Sam Karmann , Michael Kotzritzki , Maurice Lenorman , Sylvain Levignac , Patrice Malenec , Nicolas Monard , Patricia Poulain , Monica Quigley , John Rico , Azouz Saieb , Maurice Simon , Nicky South , Rosette Taubert , Lionel Turchi , Jobby Valente , Juan Villalobos , John Cooper

Diminutive pop star Prince plays another variation on the suave gigolo in this vanity piece. Set on the French Riviera, the story follows Christopher Tracy as he plays piano in a bistro and woos rich ... read more read more...Continental ladies for dollars. Tracy and his accomplice Tricky (Jerome Benton of The Time), compete for the attention of a fabulously rich heiress (Kristen Scott Thomas), much to the dismay of her stodgy father (Steven Berkoff). The rest of the screen time is padded with songs and musical montages. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi

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64% liked it

4,963 ratings

Critics

26% liked it

23 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Prince

Release Date: July 2, 1986

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DVD Release Date: August 24, 2004

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Flixster Reviews (307)

  • whosinthenews
    August 12, 2009
    whosinthenews
    Reminds me of the time I poured chocolate all over Sheena E., or was that Morris? Eeeh-hee!
  • smisty70
    June 2, 2011
    smisty70
    Corny cheesy and bad acting. Loved that it was shot in black and white. made everything seem so much more beautiful and romantic. Plus I lobe Prince.
  • wolverineland
    September 20, 2010
    wolverineland
    This movie gets panned by alot of people but it's no worse than the Bee Gees in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This is a Prince movie for Prince fans and I like Prince's attempt to make this film look like a Hollywood classic by filming in black & white. Jerome Benton of ... read morethe Time makes a great sidekick to Prince's ultra smooth Christopher Tracy. The supporting cast is really the only thing that weakens this film and I'm not just saying that because I am a Prince & Jerome fan. I will agree that Prince isn't the most gifted actor but he is one of the greatest musicians of our age and knows how to incorporate his music into a 90 minute film.
  • MovieGuruDude72
    April 2, 2010
    MovieGuruDude72
    Ok, since I'm on a Prince kick I'll review this one. To give you an idea how awful this movie was all you have to do is compare it to Purple Rain. Under the Cherry Moon made Purple Rain look like The Ten Commandments. It was that bad. Some great music on Prince's part but not nea... read morer the caliber of Rain. Prince was a Gigalo. Big surprise there. Jerome from Morris Day and the Time is NOT an actor. He's a butler. Kristin Scott Thomas is actually adorable in this film. Where the hell did this girl go? Instead we get the boring and droll English actress that bores me to death in today's movies. Crap, crap and a crap sandwich.
  • psyclock7
    January 1, 2010
    psyclock7
    Sorry Prince...But that was the worst crap I've seen in some time. Also, you did it in black and white.
  • prettitonila
    September 8, 2008
    prettitonila
    This is one of my all time favorite movies. It's a bit corny but it shows Prince's great personality and sense of humor. Jerome is always a great supporting cast mate and his role as tricky was a gas.
  • DarlingNickki
    August 6, 2008
    DarlingNickki
    Although the movie is filmed in black and white and Prince's 1st attempt at such, I found this movie to be very entertaining and the script although somewhat "silly" still very enlightening. The life of a male call boy- I will be honest- If he was really a call boy - I am sure h... read moree wouldnt have to SCOUT for clients! Loved that Prince talked in this one ! A must see for all Prince Fans!!!!!!! Jerome was charming and added abit of 'Flair to the entire movie.
    Kristin Scott Thomas was a sweetheart and alittle overwhelmed with playing oppisite of a star like Prince it seemed. All and all- a good movie to curl up and watch on a rainy night with your lover.
  • FangsFirst
    January 25, 2008
    FangsFirst
    Sandwiched between the massive hit Purple Rain in 1984 and the ho-hum sequel Graffiti Bridge in 1990 is Prince's "other film"--Under the Cherry Moon. I'm not completely convinced, but I'm pretty sure this film is the most derided of all three--with Purple ... read moreRain usually appreciated for the music, on a camp level and on a grudging acceptance of its pseudo-biopic nature and Graffiti Bridge often treated as a collection of performances again.

    Honestly, after Graffiti Bridge, I was very, very wary of trying this one on for size. I thought I should space out my Prince-watching a bit further so as to avoid being annoyed simply by the oversaturation of films with his name that bore such middling (acting) performances and writing. I shrugged tonight, though, and stuck the disc in anyway. We're immediately greeted by a voiceover telling us this is Christopher Tracy (Prince himself) playing the piano in front of us at a club, and that he is quite a ladies man (a gigolo, really, and he's called just that a few times during the movie) and cares for only money, and that he would do many things for many women, but for one he would die (I'd thought I'd ruined the movie a while ago reading about it, but apparently this is one of those sort of films that "ruins" itself, thereby implying this isn't ruination in the first place--unless you manage to forget it before the end). We then see him seducing a wealthy woman in white from his piano, overplaying the part to an effect that, combined with the voiceover, hopefully makes the viewer realize where Prince is coming from with this film, which I'll get to after I sort of lay out the essence of the plot for you here. We find out that Christopher lives with his friend Tricky (Jerome Benton, who has occasionally been a member of The Time) and the two of them work over bored or distracted widows, wives and divorcees to get money, which they plan on using to get back to Miami--because this film is set in France. The appearance of one Mary Sharon (Kristin Scott Thomas, in a very early role before ones in things like The English Patient or Altman's Gosford Park or Four Weddings and a Funeral) brings something new to the whole proceeding though, with the two of them competing to gain her affection, splitting their own partnership apart even as they both attempt to start a more permanent one (read: marriage) with her. As you might expect, after a clashing of mindsets from the "peasant" Christopher and the thoroughly wealthy and spoiled Mary, the two find themselves falling for each other, against the wishes of her father Isaac (Steven Berkoff, always good as a villain with those cold, arched eyes and that steely, thin-lipped countenance--perhaps most memorable as Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop).

    So, I referenced the idea that at the beginning we are told what kind of film this is. I established that, despite my affection for Prince's music, I do not fall easily into the trap of automatically liking his movies. However, once the film told me what was going on--this film is going to be a reference to silent and early film, and have a style melding that with modern sensibilities and dialects and Prince music, and it's going to be a comedy--I fell into it pretty throughly. The friendly chemistry between Prince and Benton is very engaging and entertaining, the two playing off each other wonderfully, and both playing off their victims--and Mary, their would-be victim--spectacularly. The timing is spot-on for all the comedy. If a joke falls flat, it's not too flat, and it's just not got that spark of complete surprise necessary for a true, full laugh (and I'm known to be quite picky about humour, so they may be just fine for you). Understanding all of that is important to watching this film. Every negative review I skimmed or read just before writing this sounded like they just wanted to beat up on Prince for being an egomaniac. OK, yes, he's an egomaniac. Maybe he's got a Napoleon complex (if you never realized he's about five foot nothing, bear in mind he's almost always wearing heels of some variety). Regardless, the man is talented. Sorry to all you pissy reviewers, but in fact that talent includes directing. Mary Lambert (she of the Pet Sematarys) was originally slated to helm this film, but Prince fired her, which he could do because it was filmed in France (aha! I knew that was important!) and kept her on only as "creative consultant." Strangely, I hear her name and think of the highly talented female director Mary Harron almost every time (sorry, Lambert is NOT highly talented from what I've seen)--which only became weirder when the lead female character is named "Mary Sharon." But I'm getting way off topic here.

    People also criticize the strange pseudo-homoerotic element of Christopher and Tricky's relationship. Um, and...? So what? I really don't understand the fuss. Then again, I don't really understand the fuss over that in most contexts, so maybe I'm the wrong person to ask. It doesn't seem accidental, so the haughty, snotty reviewers acting like it's "slipping out" are just pushing even harder against my belief that they really didn't understand this movie. And really, it's not some massive amazing work of art, so that's not so much a pretentious cop-out rebuttal as an outright insult. You'd have to be pretty uncultured or stupid not to get this movie. You can like it or not like it, that's jim-dandy. But if you sit there and say that he's overacting and it's hilarious that it seems like there's "something going on"--you didn't get it. We're set up with a voiceover to tell us this is a fairy tale of sorts. That's the whole point. It's not reality, it's film, and it's not even supposed to be "realistic" (let alone cinema verité), so sneeringly pointing these things out makes you look like an idiot, like you think you uncovered a dirty secret that wasn't even a secret, nevermind dirty. I've seen an almost reverse appear--with Ebert talking about the "hidden satire" of Evil Dead 2. It's not hidden. It's the entire point.

    This film is fun. It's in black and white not to "pompously" associate itself with Scorsese and Lynch as some fool said (what, they have a monopoly on choosing black and white now?!) but rather a way of further bringing it into the timeframe and setting it is intended to relate to. The cars and much of the dress furthers this, but naturally there are complete violations, usually perpetrated by Christopher and Tricky. But that's also intentional--they are a violation of the mandates and customs of the world we're seeing them barge into. Yeah, ok, Prince just has a weird sense of fashion, too, and yes, again, he's an egomaniac, but he's got something to back it up, unlike the goofball reviewers.

    Ahem. Sorry. I've completely derailed myself here, but it really irritates me when criticism of a movie is so blatantly, ridiculously ignorant. And this one doesn't even take much. If it took a lot of background knowledge to understand what was going on here, I'd understand, but this is really very simple and it's all right out there. If you get your jollies poking holes in Prince's ego (he shuts down his own fansites, do you really think he gives a crap what some stupid reviewer says?) then--hey, have fun, but please try to have some ground to stand on. Sheesh.
  • breakingglass
    October 24, 2007
    breakingglass
    Even though there are a few goofs involving the time period, UTCM is a forgotten classic. The humor is great, Prince gets to show off his decent acting skills and his cool costumes. And the music is fun too!
  • GreyDucks
    September 21, 2007
    GreyDucks
    Not the best movie (a lot less enjoyable than Purple Rain), but Parade is a great album, Kiss is a great single and Sometimes it Snows in April is my favorite slower Prince song.

View All Under the Cherry Moon Reviews

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
January 15, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

Ss flat and uninteresting as a newsreel from the 1930s about vacationing in the south of France. Full Review

Walter Goodman
May 21, 2003
Walter Goodman, New York Times

For all those out there who can't get enough of Prince, Under the Cherry Moon may be just the antidote. Full Review

Charles Taylor
January 1, 2000
Charles Taylor, Salon.com

Prince wants to ride atop the float, receiving the crowd's adulation, but he's also larking about down in the street, happy to be one of the clowns. Full Review

Pat Graham
January 1, 2000
Pat Graham, Chicago Reader

At least Prince's narcissism is easier to take than Stallone's or Rob Lowe's: he doesn't regard the rest of the world as an insult to his estimable self. Full Review

January 15, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The whole film plays exactly for what it is, one long essay in ego massaging. Full Review

June 24, 2006
Time Out

Shot in black-and-white in an attempt to evoke the sophisticated burr of '40s films, its intent is hamstrung by over-familiar gags, though the script comes more to life when Prince and Benton lapse in... Full Review

Michael A. Smith
December 18, 2004
Michael A. Smith, Nolan's Pop Culture Review

Makes you forget how good "Purple Rain" is.

Alex Sandell
November 11, 2004
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum

Just buy the soundtrack. The movie's an embarrasment.

Christopher Null
August 22, 2004
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

a colossal bore Full Review

Matthew De Abaitua
May 24, 2003
Matthew De Abaitua, Film4

For a preposterous vanity project and notorious cinematic turkey, Under The Cherry Moon is actually rather charming, rakish and amusing. Full Review

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Under the Cherry Moon Trivia

  • What movie is the character Christopher Tracy from?  Answer »
  • I had more sucess doing music... I had a rough childhood I Gave up my name for a sign a couple years ago... One of my movie was `Under the cherry moon`  Answer »
  • What was actress Kristn Scott Thomas"s debut movie starring a legendary rockstar?  Answer »
  • What movie marked Prince's directorial debut?  Answer »
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