The first time I saw "Cherry 2000", I saw it on the Los Angeles area "Z" Channel and if I remember correctly when they showed this film, it was not scheduled for theatrical release. I think they were showing movies of Melanie Griffith because "Working Girl" had become so popular at the time, and they were showing what a range this actress had from action-adventure to abused secretary. And Melanie Griffith does have that range.
Cherry 2000 didn't look finished when I saw it, but what I loved about ti was it's story. I've all but forgotten about it until recently when one of the premiere movie channels showed it. In looking at it now, it could easily be renamed "The Real Desperate Housewives of Orange County" - this film was really perceptive for 1987 - and it's only 20 years later! There is a running joke in the film that makes me review Cherry 2000 this way - back then, I didn't catch it. Today, it's really funny.
The joke: They ask the man looking to replace his robot where is he from? He replies: Anaheim. That's in Orange County. Why is it a joke? Well...Cherry 2000 was a female robot that was made as a companion for men. She was blonde, pretty, perfect breasts, perfect hips, very attentive to her man, had an A.I. chip of all the right things to say, all the right things to do.
Cherry 2000 was perfect for coming home to when he had such a long day at work. This man was used to his Cherry 2000 and his A.I. Cherry 2000 program that was programmed to look, sound and do whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, Cherry 2000 short circuited and he needed to get a new one. In trying to replace his Cherry 2000, he found that it was obsolete. The body, but not the chip. Newer models of female robots were available but he was really into his Cherry 2000 (Another running joke is the line: "Ah, yes, a Cherry 2000! Great hip action!") so it was suggested that there might be a Cherry 2000 model out in the wastelands of robots. He could take his pre programmed chip and insert it into one of those Cherry's. Only way to get there was to find a 'tracker' to take him in to the Wasteland and get one.
The only sane and semi-honest tracker he could find was a woman - gasp - a real woman, Played by Melanie Griffith. Melanie was skilled, tough and also...feminine. So, this man had to go into dangerous robotic wasteland territory with a real flesh and blood woman to find a Cherry 2000 robot that he thought was the only woman that could make him happy.
As I pointed out, the story was a good story, the acting was fine, the production and post production values were light which took away from a lot for me as I watched it. It was kinda on the "Mad Max" level of production but for this story it needed more production values to succeed.
It is a cautionary tale - and it looks as though it was perceptive. We are there, especially in Orange County with the pre-fabricated, programmed woman. This is not a "Stepford Wife", per ce. But it is an ideal and a manipulation of what some men think a woman should be, say and do all by the flick of a control - easy to control as flipping on a light switch. That is, until - you re-insert yourself among real humans, real women, non altered flesh and blood and find out what you're really missing, which our male does.
A funny, nice, low-key production, cautionary tale, action, love story film.
Cherry 2000 didn't look finished when I saw it, but what I loved about ti was it's story. I've all but forgotten about it until recently when one of the premiere movie channels showed it. In looking at it now, it could easily be renamed "The Real Desperate Housewives of Orange County" - this film was really perceptive for 1987 - and it's only 20 years later! There is a running joke in the film that makes me review Cherry 2000 this way - back then, I didn't catch it. Today, it's really funny.
The joke: They ask the man looking to replace his robot where is he from? He replies: Anaheim. That's in Orange County. Why is it a joke? Well...Cherry 2000 was a female robot that was made as a companion for men. She was blonde, pretty, perfect breasts, perfect hips, very attentive to her man, had an A.I. chip of all the right things to say, all the right things to do.
Cherry 2000 was perfect for coming home to when he had such a long day at work. This man was used to his Cherry 2000 and his A.I. Cherry 2000 program that was programmed to look, sound and do whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, Cherry 2000 short circuited and he needed to get a new one. In trying to replace his Cherry 2000, he found that it was obsolete. The body, but not the chip. Newer models of female robots were available but he was really into his Cherry 2000 (Another running joke is the line: "Ah, yes, a Cherry 2000! Great hip action!") so it was suggested that there might be a Cherry 2000 model out in the wastelands of robots. He could take his pre programmed chip and insert it into one of those Cherry's. Only way to get there was to find a 'tracker' to take him in to the Wasteland and get one.
The only sane and semi-honest tracker he could find was a woman - gasp - a real woman, Played by Melanie Griffith. Melanie was skilled, tough and also...feminine. So, this man had to go into dangerous robotic wasteland territory with a real flesh and blood woman to find a Cherry 2000 robot that he thought was the only woman that could make him happy.
As I pointed out, the story was a good story, the acting was fine, the production and post production values were light which took away from a lot for me as I watched it. It was kinda on the "Mad Max" level of production but for this story it needed more production values to succeed.
It is a cautionary tale - and it looks as though it was perceptive. We are there, especially in Orange County with the pre-fabricated, programmed woman. This is not a "Stepford Wife", per ce. But it is an ideal and a manipulation of what some men think a woman should be, say and do all by the flick of a control - easy to control as flipping on a light switch. That is, until - you re-insert yourself among real humans, real women, non altered flesh and blood and find out what you're really missing, which our male does.
A funny, nice, low-key production, cautionary tale, action, love story film.