Cherish (R) ★

A young woman confined to house arrest after falsely becoming implicated in the death of a cop manages to escape and capture the real culprit.

Story

Zoe is a neurotic young San Franciscan who works at a high-tech animation company where she is bullied by boss Brynn and ignored by handsome co-worker Andrew. Adding to this sad social mix is a camera-happy stalker who for reasons unknown is obsessed with her. Late one night after an unsuccessful attempt to connect with Andrew at a club, Zoe runs into serious trouble when a faceless thug jumps into her car and causes a horrendous accident that leaves a cop dead. The thug escapes, and Zoe is arrested for the crime. She's put under house arrest in her loft and is forced to wear a tracking device on her ankle that is meant to make her stay put. Under arrest and such confinement, Zoe has little interaction with the outside world, except for her lawyer, a therapist, some noisy neighborhood punks, a mysterious DJ, a gay handicapped Jewish neighbor, amorous Russian neighbors and, most significantly, Daly, the representative from the company that manufactures her tracking device. Zoe, who is also monitored by regular phone calls, manages to escape the loft for nine hours to seek out the stalker. Her perilous race through San Francisco and against time ends with the culprit uncovered and Zoe exonerated of the crime.

Acting

Robin Tunney as Zoe isn't shackled just by her ankle device; she's burdened by a quirky character who must function in an even quirkier and silly plot. Tunney does the best one can in this oddball film, as do Nora Dunn as a caricature of a hard-bitten lawyer, Jason Priestley as the office hunk who couldn't care less about her and Liz Phair as a boss from hell. Tim Blake Nelson as Daly, with a soft spot for Zoe, at least gives his incessantly nerdy character an appealing human side.

Direction

Writer/director Finn Taylor, as director, subsumes substance for the sake of style. Cherish looks good (although Taylor has a weakness for jump cuts and fast motion) but, with its unrelenting '70s music tracks (Hall & Oates, 10cc, etc.), it sounds even better. And he doesn't allow any of the performers to embarrass themselves. But as writer, Taylor delivers a very oddball concept wrapped in a nonsensical story that means well but fails to meld quirky and creepy, hip and horrendous. Taylor at least deserves credit for trying something original.

Bottom Line

In this silly story about a young San Francisco animator under house arrest after she's implicated in the death of a cop, there's little that's true in the film except for its eccentric conceits, a slick cinematic look and a profusion of '70s pop hits that strike nostalgic chords.