The Color Purple

I'll start by saying that several performances were REALLY good, particularly Shug and Sophia (hello, Oscar?). But the movie felt flat. I know this is a different version (from the Broadway show) and definitely not a remake of the Steven Spielberg film. And while the music was good, I found it distracting, inserted into the story rather than advancing the story like a musical should. The characters felt undeveloped and ultimately unresolved. We saw some of the brutality of Mister but not his cruelty. We saw kindness of Celie but not her true goodness. And finally the choreography. It was good, if this had been on stage. In the movie, the action of the story stops so the action of the dancing can begin. So it called attention to itself instead of, again, advancing the story without our noticing.

It's not a bad movie. It's just not really good.

It's a decent new adaptation of The Color Purple with gorgeous production designs, solid direction and good performances from the cast members. Director Blitz Bazawule does a solid work on handling the tone and setting alongside with the production sets, costumes, and camerawork being really colorful and beautiful. The musical singing moments, while some of the musical tracks weren't great, were solid with some pretty good lyrics and musical tones explored. Many of the performances were pretty good as there wasn't a single poor performance.

Since I have read the book and seen the first adaptation from Steven Spielberg which I really liked, I felt the emotional core and writing isn't as strong as it could be as there were some elements that felt thin and could have been explored a bit more. Since this is based on the broadway version, I haven't seen the broadway version so that might explain the disconnection. There were some pacing issues and some of the dialogue moments were a little odd. Overall, it's a decent adaptation but I prefer to watch Steven Spielberg's version.

It's certainly possible that the core story of The Colour Purple just doesn't do anything for me. Because I'm not a huge fan of Spielberg's movie either but at least I thought it was a consistent vision. It may have devolved into misery porn for me after a while but at least it was tonally consistent misery porn. That's not something I can say for this new movie because I can't remember the last time I felt this much tonal whiplash watching a film.

Because the choice to tell this story as a musical wasn't entirely successful for me. Because for as well produced and performed as these sequences are they are in constant clash with the overwhelmingly heinous actions taken against these characters. These women can go from experiencing physical, lawful and sexual abuse only for the filmmakers to jarringly cut to a highly choreographed, energetic musical sequence. It rarely feels smooth and it constantly makes the film feel as if it's at war with itself for what it wants to be.

Those sequences really are gorgeously produced and performed to their credit though as is the entire film. All though often to its detriment, there's energy through every single performance and shot in this film and I really appreciate that they didn't revert to the bare minimum of shot/reverse shot even for even simple dialogue scenes. But for as incredible as these performances are, character wise this script personally left a lot to be desired.

It makes sense that this main character is as passive as she is given the abuse she suffers but it took too long for her arc to come to fruition. Because the only time she ever takes any agency is through other characters. This might work for where she starts the film but it just robs the character of any real development. Supporting characters are constantly swooping in to make her important life choices for her, rather than having her actually receiving any growth of her own, by the time she finally starts making her own choices not only does it feel unearned but also far too late in the film to feel satisfying.

The resolution of her character arc might've been unearned but it pales in comparison to how these male abusers are treated. The husband characters played, admittedly very well, by Colman Domingo and Corey Hawkins are portrayed as abusive to quite honestly ridiculous levels. Domingo's character is basically just portrayed as evil with almost no nuance or depth and Hawkins is written as wholly ignorant in a way that could've made sense but the entire resolution to those characters totally fumbles their entire arcs. There are elements of generational trauma given but it's not explored nearly deeply enough to justify their actions.

The script makes them horrific abusers from almost their very introduction and in the third act the filmmakers have the gall to try and redeem them. Not only does it fall totally flat but I actually found it fairly insulting as a viewer. Forgiveness should have limits but at the very least it should make sense from a writing perspective. Nothing in the first two acts gives any sense that these characters deserve redemption, nor that any other character would forgive them, and it made a large part of the last third totally infuriating to watch.

The Colour Purple was a frustrating experience for me. I may not totally connect with this story but I had far too many issues from a writing perspective to give the film the benefit of the doubt. It is an extremely well produced version of a deeply flawed script. It's completely lacking in depth or nuance and it's totally eye rolling in how it depicts the trauma of it's characters. Musical's are totally capable of dealing with dark subject matters but it's all down to tone and it honestly felt like this script had no barring on how it wanted to portray this story.

The Color Purple novel is one of the greatest pieces of American literature. The film adaptation a masterpiece worth of a 10/10.

What is presented in this iteration of the novel and the film, a musical version has to be one of the worst musicals to ever be adapted to film.

There original film has musical numbers that are magical and memorable. That elevate the story and bring a soul and substance. This musical version has no memorable moments. The strongest being 'Hell, No" which unfortunately lands flats. Fantasia's 'I'm Here' is another powerful track but gets lost in the mix of what are essential filler tracks that have been through the Disneyfication machine. The musician H. E. R. Barely gets to offer her incredible voice to the ensemble.

The story plods along at times incoherently. The rawness of the novel, left out presumably to making it 'family friendly' which is a major mistake. The rawness of this story, or this novel, of these iconic and remarkable characters is the foundation of the entire point of why the colour of Purple is so important as an analogy of God and His Grace.

Each actor shines, but the direction is so lost these incredible actors moments get lost with them. It's hard not to keep one's memory from harking back to the powerful performances from the original film. Nothing can erase the majesty of that film.

A very disappointing outcome that just leads to the conclusion that this musical project just doesn't work.

Danielle Brooks truly stole the show as Sofia in the film, shining like a star. Her talent and beauty are simply awe-inspiring. Whenever she graced the screen, a smile would automatically appear on my face, and I couldn't help but feel a slight blush. Her performance was filled with sensitivity and power, making her the perfect fit for the role. I have no doubt that she will have a long and illustrious career, deserving of celebration.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to start my Christmas morning than being immersed in the timeless charm of this classic film's stunning visuals and captivating sound. I'm absolutely thrilled to keep playing the soundtrack on repeat!