Purple Rain (1984) (R)
Directed by Albert Magnoli
Starring: Prince, Morris Day, Jill Jones, Apollonia Kotero
Daughter Says:
Purple Rain is about Prince and his struggle with his life. He has a screwed up family and a mixed up relationship with his girl friend. I can't really say anything other than that because there isn't much else to say.
I must say I'm in love with Prince more than I was before, because he was amazing on his purple motorcycle. I really think he could make a great super-hero driving around on his purple motorcycle with that guitar on his back and in his purple ruffle suit.
Other than that this movie just didn't add up. The acting in this movie was awful. The best actor in the film was Prince and he isn't even an actor. He was himself, end of story. The dialogue was awful too. Who thought up this stuff? It was a disaster.
But even though this movie has really bad acting and really bad script, don't let that stop you from watching Purple Rain. Prince has an amazing talent and a really bad review shouldn't stop you from watching it. I mean take Tommy or Across the Universe for instance. Tommy is a train wreck and Across the Universe makes you feel like you're on drugs. But my dad will tell you that Tommy is a brilliant movie and everyone should experience it, and I already told you what I thought about Across the Universe. So take a chance with Purple Rain. It's not like you'll have to watch it more than once in your life if you hate it.
Rating for Purple Rain: ***1/2.
Daddy Says:
I'll say this right up front, and get it out of the way: Purple Rain is a really terrible movie. And anytime it's on, I'm going to watch it. It's very much a guilty pleasure for me. Filled with some of the best music of Prince's career, Purple Rain would have been much better as simply a concert film (much as he did later for Sign O' the Times). Unfortunately, they've tried to graft a story onto it, and that's where the movie suffers.
The dialogue is atrocious. Other than a fairly funny riff on the classic "Who's on First?" routine, involving trying to come up with a code word, there really isn't anything interesting going on here. A predictable dysfunctional family at home, it's no surprise when Prince starts acting "just like his father" who's "never satisfied". Why do they scream at each other? Almost sounds like lines from a song...
The "actors" are essentially playing themselves, even going so far as using their own names. What's surprising is how bad most of them are at playing themselves. You'd think they'd know how to be themselves by now. Only Prince really comes across as having any real charisma.
Other than during the stage performances, the cinematography here is extremely repetitive. You could make a drinking game out it (take one drink every time you see the back tire of Prince's motorcycle speed away).
Ah, but then there is the music. Which is also part of the movie that bugs me. You see, Prince's character is told from the beginning that "nobody digs your music but yourself". By the end of the movie, everyone loves his music, yet he hasn't changed his music one bit from the beginning of the film. Maybe the rest of the world just takes a while to recognize talent. Not me, it's there every time he's onstage.
Rating for Purple Rain: ***3/4.
Directed by Albert Magnoli
Starring: Prince, Morris Day, Jill Jones, Apollonia Kotero
Daughter Says:
Purple Rain is about Prince and his struggle with his life. He has a screwed up family and a mixed up relationship with his girl friend. I can't really say anything other than that because there isn't much else to say.
I must say I'm in love with Prince more than I was before, because he was amazing on his purple motorcycle. I really think he could make a great super-hero driving around on his purple motorcycle with that guitar on his back and in his purple ruffle suit.
Other than that this movie just didn't add up. The acting in this movie was awful. The best actor in the film was Prince and he isn't even an actor. He was himself, end of story. The dialogue was awful too. Who thought up this stuff? It was a disaster.
But even though this movie has really bad acting and really bad script, don't let that stop you from watching Purple Rain. Prince has an amazing talent and a really bad review shouldn't stop you from watching it. I mean take Tommy or Across the Universe for instance. Tommy is a train wreck and Across the Universe makes you feel like you're on drugs. But my dad will tell you that Tommy is a brilliant movie and everyone should experience it, and I already told you what I thought about Across the Universe. So take a chance with Purple Rain. It's not like you'll have to watch it more than once in your life if you hate it.
Rating for Purple Rain: ***1/2.
Daddy Says:
I'll say this right up front, and get it out of the way: Purple Rain is a really terrible movie. And anytime it's on, I'm going to watch it. It's very much a guilty pleasure for me. Filled with some of the best music of Prince's career, Purple Rain would have been much better as simply a concert film (much as he did later for Sign O' the Times). Unfortunately, they've tried to graft a story onto it, and that's where the movie suffers.
The dialogue is atrocious. Other than a fairly funny riff on the classic "Who's on First?" routine, involving trying to come up with a code word, there really isn't anything interesting going on here. A predictable dysfunctional family at home, it's no surprise when Prince starts acting "just like his father" who's "never satisfied". Why do they scream at each other? Almost sounds like lines from a song...
The "actors" are essentially playing themselves, even going so far as using their own names. What's surprising is how bad most of them are at playing themselves. You'd think they'd know how to be themselves by now. Only Prince really comes across as having any real charisma.
Other than during the stage performances, the cinematography here is extremely repetitive. You could make a drinking game out it (take one drink every time you see the back tire of Prince's motorcycle speed away).
Ah, but then there is the music. Which is also part of the movie that bugs me. You see, Prince's character is told from the beginning that "nobody digs your music but yourself". By the end of the movie, everyone loves his music, yet he hasn't changed his music one bit from the beginning of the film. Maybe the rest of the world just takes a while to recognize talent. Not me, it's there every time he's onstage.
Rating for Purple Rain: ***3/4.
Looks like you two have this film nailed. The value is in the charisma of Prince, one of the musical and performing geniuses of the last quarter century. All the same, you can probably skip the sequel, Graffiti Bridge (though I don't regret owning a CD of the album). I do get a kick watching a recent TV show like "Heroes" and seeing the music credits for Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman. Prince has an eye for talent.
ReplyDeleteThank you, by the way, for taking a chance on my suggestion, "The Son." I know you split on it, but it was good of you to have a look.
Of course I have more suggestions - a couple of movies that are all talk, no story. "My Dinner With Andre" was Roger Ebert's #1 film for 1981 and Gene Siskel's #2. It's literally a dinner conversation between two theater/literary people, but the conversation (and the contrast between their personalities) is either fascinating or a Total Waste of Time. The other suggestion is "Swimming to Cambodia," a brilliant monologue by the great Spalding Gray, talking about his life and his participation in the movie, "The Killing Fields." (Gray spent a difficult part of his career at the Alley Theatre in Houston.) The entertainment Gray describes in Thailand - the "banana didn't stick" part - may be a bit explicit for Daughter.