"What I think was surprising on him was that from all of the humor he's involved and his sort of itchiness that he has with Kat, there is some moments where he reveals how vulnerable he really is and so the shield comes down and right in there you're really becoming sympathetic to Rory. You like him at first cause he's the funny guy, but then you care about him because you realize that there's a place that humor comes from that we all share."
— Craig Perry emphasizing the vulnerability beneath Rory Peters in Final Destination 2.
Cherry's performance received mixed reviews from critics. Robert Koehler of Variety said that "Cherry offered some dry comic balance as the requisite stoner dude among the survivors"; while Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com exclaimed that "Cherry nicely underplays his canned role as the Spicoli-esque drug burnout, achieving the movie's one moment of real pathos when he asks Kimberly to destroy his paraphernalia and porn. -- "anything that'd break my mom's heart.""