In the 40 years since Stephen Frears fell into filmmaking -- "it wasn't my masterplan" -- the twice Oscar-nominated veteran director has defied genre to direct a clutch of movies that inspire a special kind of devotion from audiences.
Features like period drama "Dangerous Liaisons" (1989), underrated noir-ish indie "The Grifters," and Hanif Kureishi-penned 1980s gay love story "My Beautiful Laundrette," are full of edgy characters that stay with you long after you leave the movie theater.
Over the years Frears has also made a habit of portraying fiercely independent, determined -- and occasionally dangerous -- women. "I've only ever met strong women," he says. "I don't know any weak women."
Frears' latest film, "Cheri," a saucy period tragicomedy, which reunites him with leading lady Michelle Pfeiffer 21 years after he directed her to an Oscar nomination in "Dangerous Liaisons," is no different.
Pfeiffer, who he describes as "one of the great beauties of the world," plays Lea a wealthy, retired courtesan who still retains more than a glimmer of her famed allure. 
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