Lea is a beautiful, rich courtesan that has started to think about retiring. But then her archrival/friend Madame Peloux comes to her with a proposition that has Lea considering postponing her retirement for a short amount of time. She is to take Peloux’s 19 year son affectionately nicknamed Cheri under her wing and teach him the ways of women. Time quickly passes taking what was intended to be a short affair and turning it into a relationship that neither wants to admit. But soon Cheri is being pulled away from Lea and promised off to a proper young woman for marriage. The memories of their relationship plagues them both as they try to cope and move on, neither willing to admit what they had and that perhaps it was time to move on.

Michelle Pfeiffer as usual is beautiful and graceful. The pain she feels at the loss of her love is striking and has you feeling for her. Rupert Friend as Cheri is alright; basically a pretty face with a slight cocky nature not too much more than that.

The costumes and sets are gorgeous and rich; but the story doesn’t follow suit. The narration feels out of place and is often dropped for long portions of time causing you to forget it was ever there only to be caught off guard when it pops up again. The filming and story while entertaining and touching at times has almost a more made for TV feel than theatrical. It certainly doesn’t live up to that of “Dangerous Liaisons”. Then the ending comes suddenly giving you a rapid closure to a story that was slow moving and subtle. Sad that there couldn’t have been more to it as the subject matter of courtesans, their lives, and their riches is alone enough to flesh out an interesting tale.