Traditional French macarons are made up of two thin cookies with a cream or fruit spread between them. Eaten as snacks or dessert, they’re light as air and not filling.

“Cheri” is the film equivalent of a macaron. It’s pretty to look at, pleasant to digest, but doesn’t stick to your ribs.

“Cheri” originated as a novel written by Colette, a French music-hall dancer turned famed writer. The film melds the book and its counterpart “The End of Cheri” to compose the film’s plot.

It begins with the introduction of Lea Lonval (Michelle Pfeiffer), a celebrated courtesan on the brink of retirement. On a visit to the house of her former rival and now friend Madame Peloux (Kathy Bates), she encounters Fred, nicknamed Cheri (Rupert Friend). Cheri soon becomes attracted to Lea and they begin an affair spanning six years, ending only with Cheri’s marriage to the much younger Edmee (Felicity Jones).

The second half of the film takes a more serious turn, as Cheri seemingly cannot decide whether to be with Lea or Edmee and vacillates between the two. During this time, Lea grows conscious of her own ageing, on which Cheri eventually picks up.

Pfeiffer plays the elder courtesan with aplomb, complete with lively eyes and a knowing smirk, having seen it all before. As Cheri, Friend conveys the right mixture of youthful confidence and tortured anguish. Their scenes together are liberally sprinkled with wit and crackling with chemistry.

Visually, the film is stunning. Costumes reflect trends of the time period, inspired by Japanese and Oriental influences of the day. The Art Nouveau movement is well-represented, showing up on painted walls and in furniture. Filmed in Paris, Biarritz and Germany, the outdoor scenes are breathtaking. Setting the scene accurately evokes the Belle Époque time period in France.

It also explores some dichotomies of the time that ring true today. Cheri’s inability to choose the inexperienced wife or the worldly-wise courtesan points to the still-prevalent Madonna-whore fallacy.

The film also reflects the cougar trend in moviemaking, romantically pairing an older woman with a younger man. Culturally, the French have been ahead of this curve, revering older women such as storied actress Catherine Deneuve. In an autobiographical aside, Colette had an affair with her stepson, resembling the Lea/Cheri pairing, some time after “Cheri” was published.

Try as it might, “Cheri” cannot resist falling into the “Oscar bait” trap. It has a very good chance with production design, but wants to qualify on all fronts. A scene involving Pfeiffer emoting would only be less blatant if the words “for the Academy’s consideration” appeared at the bottom of the screen. In the Kate Winslet grand tradition of take-it-off-and-win-the-Oscar, Friend does the former in hopes of gaining the latter (surely causing feminine squeals of glee in the process).

It’s not a fulfilling meal, but “Cheri” makes for a delightful diversion between summer blockbusters.