In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

After watching the trailer for "Cherrybomb", I had great expectations about this one. It looked dark and raw and sexy. But I was a bit disappointed. Not that it was not interesting to watch, but it felt like something was missing, something was not enough.The storyline goes like this: Two 16-year-olds, best friends, fall for the new girl in town. She leads them both on and they compete over her, trying to impress her. The three fall into a twirl of alcohol, drugs, sex and violence.The two friends are portrayed by Rupert Grint and Robert Sheehan. They were both excellent. Sheehan is always a joy to watch, there is a great career ahead of him. And Grint was a very pleasant surprise, basically supporting most of the film with his performance. Kimberley Nixon though, the girl that pulls the strings, did not stand up to the part for me. It didn't seem believable that she could affect them that much, I couldn't see "that something" in her.Another reviewer compared this trio with the Effy/Freddie/Cook story in "Skins". I agree to the similarity and it is an excellent argument why "Cherrybomb" was not enough. Effy was a character you loved to hate. You could see why she had them crazy over her. The love/hate friendship between Freddie and Cook was very touching. And it was much more raw and violent, really leaved you with a wow/punch-in-the-stomach kind of feel. "Cherrybomb" tried for this feel too and didn't quite get there...The cinematography was interesting, I liked the dark colors and it got across the feeling of despair and confusion of adolescence. But still I expected more, it was a bit superficial, not strong enough, not daring enough perhaps, to shock you, to really get to you.Kudos for the ending and the soundtrack. Could have been better, but it's still worth watching.

Like most of you, I am a Harry Potter fan and stumbled upon this movie while seeing what Rupert Grint was up to. I thought he was easily the most talented actor of the trio, and was curious to where his career would go - Emma Watson has modeling and fashion, Dan Radcliffe seems to be doing Broadway and other types of media.Anyway, The movie is centered around two best friends - Malachy (Grint) and Luke (Sheehan). They live a regular yet drug-infused life of a teenager. Malachy is a loved son with responsibility and a job. Luke, however, is the product of a broken home and as a result is left by himself for the most part - fueling the chaos. Malachy's boss' daughter, Michelle, comes to live with him and the two friends immediately fight for her. The love between the friends is obvious throughout the movie, despite frequent fights. Malachy ends up falling for Michelle, and when she reveals she is leaving and therefore cannot start a relationship he works harder for even a moment of love. The ending is pretty surprising, a solid twist.I didn't like the directing at all. Throughout the movie there is white text that flashes across the screen with phrases that don't seem to make sense. Are they the character's thoughts? words? Narrator's hints? It was unnecessary. The writing was pretty good, a lot of things were unnecessary and unexplained, but some can argue that is just a style that was intentional - perhaps even liked by many viewers. The ending sort of drops off, leaving unclear of the fate of the trio. Again, it may be intentional, but it was far too abrupt and didn't close the movie in the way I would have liked.The highlight of this movie is the acting. Without a doubt. Every person in this movie is believable and brilliant. Grint did not disappoint and played the character flawlessly. Even when he is not the focus of the shot, he stays in character and even his gestures are consistent and spot on. Sheehan was the biggest surprise to me. I have no idea who he is, haven't seen him before, but he really made the movie for me. The mix of charisma, a character with a chip on his shoulder, and the overall development of his character is apparent with every word, gesture, and smirk. I look forward to seeing him in future films.Overall, if you are a Harry Potter fan, you will appreciate Grint's performance and probably like the movie. The acting made the shortcomings of the movie less obvious and entertaining. However, this is not a movie meant for a young audience. It is riddled with drugs, sex, violence, and bad language.

Ever since I saw the trailer for this, I always thought it looked interesting. I've always liked Rupert Grint as an actor, and for me, he is the only positive factor in this mess of a film. CHERRYBOMB is littered with annoying performances, and pointless characters, who sit around with no purpose. They have virtually no motivation at all, which sadly doesn't allow you to become emotionally connected to any of the characters. I couldn't care less about what happens to any of them. It's basically just a film full of smoking. Robert Sheehan is REALLY annoying. I don't know what it is about him, but his performance in this was really irritating. I won't spoil the film for those who haven't seen it, but it's meant to build up to something big. It's such a shame there's no build up at all. It's just loads of pointless scenes thrown together serving no purpose at all. At least Grint makes this film watchable, however awful it is itself. The only I actually really liked in this film, was the drunken montage near the end of the movie. I thought that was really well done. The ending I felt was well filmed as well, but like I said, I really don't care enough to be bothered by it.

Cherrybomb is a stylish, yet realistic portrayal of contemporary teenagers. The story is pretty simple -- two best friends Malachy (Rupert Grint) and Luke (Robert Sheehan) meet a beautiful girl Michelle (Kimberley Nixon) who has just moved back to Belfast from London; her dad is Malachy's boss Dave Crilly (James Nesbitt). She challenges the boys to compete for her affection by undertaking a series of reckless stunts, which include fighting, stealing and wrecking cars, demolishing properties, etc. However there's more to Cherrybomb than this main premise. All three protagonists are complex characters; the fact that they are 16-year-olds explains their insecurities, inability to acknowledge their true feelings, bravado, recklessness, overly emotional response to things happening around them, and -- stupidity. Michelle's parents are divorced and disinterested in their own daughter, who they treat like a tennis ball. Michelle's mother sends her to live with her dad, but he prefers to spend time with his teenage lover. Crilly's selfishness frustrates his "princess", and in turn she initiates the ultimate rebellion. Luke lives with his alcoholic, irresponsible father Smiley and "businessman" brother Chris, who forces Smiley and Luke to sell drugs. Among his friends, Luke is perceived as an attractive, flamboyant, carefree bloke; but behind this facade Luke is ashamed of his father, frustrated by his brother, and utterly unhappy with his entire family setting. His best friend Malachy is the only ray of light in his life. Luke gets the girls easily, but he disposes of them quickly, because the entire notion of a stable relationship is alien to him. Malachy has a stable family, and he excels at school. His middle class parents have high hopes for his future, but they fail to notice that there's more to their son than just good marks. They disapprove his friendship with Luke, but Malachy sticks to his pal and copes well with Luke's nasty behaviour. Malachy is clever and self-confident, but he doesn't want his friends to see him just as mummy's nerdy little boy; so he drinks, smokes weed, snorts cocaine, swears. However, it is not Luke but Michelle who ultimately pushes him over the edge. Both boys are attracted to Michelle; however, it is Malachy who soon becomes completely infatuated by her. As the competition gets increasingly dangerous, both Luke and Michelle are surprised by the fact that "the good boy" Malachy accepts the challenges and doesn't give up. Luke can afford to do whatever he wants because he's got nothing to lose; while Malachy jeopardises his good relationship with his parents, his job, and his academic future.Although Michelle seems to have more in common with Luke, she finds herself attracted to Malachy, disarmed by his sincerity. But, at the same time, she is afraid to love and let love. Halfway through the film the dynamics of the trio changes. Luke freaks out at the possibility of losing his best friend to this girl; and what was Malachy and Luke competing for Michelle, turns into Michelle and Luke competing for Malachy. Michelle grows increasingly annoyed by Luke's crazy antics, while Luke can't understand Malachy's infatuation with this girl and is ultimately jealous and baffled by the idea that his best friend would choose Michelle over him. The entire action in Cherrybomb happens over the span of a weekend, making the movie very intense and fast-paced; and the ultimate rebellion results in tragedy which changes the survivors' lives forever. Acting wise, the greatest expectations were laid on Rupert Grint's shoulders, because we were all curious to see whether he could make us forget about Ron Weasley; whether he can suppress his natural comedic instincts and be a successful drama lead; whether he can pull off a thick Norn Iron accent; and whether he has an acting future after Harry Potter. And the answer to all these questions is YES! There was no trace of Ron Weasley (or Grint's other movie characters) there: he gave a very subtle and realistic performance. It is hard to believe that this is the same actor who always gets the funny lines and handles a majority of slapstick in Harry Potter. Grint brings a touching sincerity and warmth to the role of Malachy, a boy who falls in love with a girl for the first time, and is willing to risk everything just to be with her.Robert Sheehan, on the other hand, gives a completely different performance. Luke is flamboyant and extreme, and Sheehan's performance is suitably over-the-top in the most positive way: he portrays this tense, edgy, emotionally broken teenager heartbreakingly and persuasively. Sheehan is definitely a force to reckon with, and he and Grint play each other off superbly. Kimberley Nixon gives a convincing portrayal of a neglected, insecure girl. She and Rupert Grint have a wonderful on-screen chemistry. James Nesbitt is fantastic as Michelle's father: he generated a lot of laughter, and initially appeared as a selfish but relatively benign man who suffers from midlife crisis. However, as the movie progresses, he is exposed as an aggressive, violent man. The directors' style is very creative and efficient. Instead of flashy special effects, they opt for an imaginative use of real-life sets, unusual camera angles, lots of close-up shots, expressive colours and clever editing. The film does contain some violent and drug related scenes, nudity and foul language -- however even the rawest of scenes are done very stylishly.Cherrybomb deals with the challenges of growing up, accepting responsibilities and falling in love for the first time. This dark, artsy movie is definitely not kiddie-friendly; but, the combination of great performances, beautiful visuals, and uncompromising realism makes it highly recommendable. Anyone interested in an engaging, thrilling and gripping emotional roller-coaster should enjoy Cherrybomb.