I have been a big fan of Prince lately. I have been listening to his music almost religiously lately and for some reason I'm just digging the guy. So I figured it would be worth watching his huge hit film Purple Rain. With great hope I popped the DVD into my player and man I was really disappointed. I thought it might be worth my time but I was wrong.
For starters this film is beyond cheesy and maybe even beyond camp. The once hip culture trends and styles just come off as very dated. This film has aged horribly and holds up very poorly. All the over the top and glossy MTV visuals of the 1980's just come off as really silly to me. Now I do openly admit to indulging once in awhile in campy guilty pleasure films but this one just didn't do it for me.
What got to me the most though is perhaps the fact that the acting is just do god-awful. Many of the actors appear to be amateur actors, as most of them are real musicians and not actors. Line after line just comes off unintentionally funny and lacks the impact of a real actors performance. After awhile the bad acting started to drive me nuts because it distracted me in the scenes that were meant to be serious. I just ended up not buying the drama of the film. Prince himself doesn't even show much chops as an actor. As a stage performer he is rarely matched, but here as an actor he shows little charisma. The man is great on stage but is only a mediocre actor.
The plot is more or less autobiographical one for Prince. It is about a young musicians desperate attempt to become a rock star in the Minneapolis club scene. Along with that basic story line of Prince's character, The Kid, trying to become famous, there are also other side stories thrown in the film. We get a side story about The Kid's rival trying to ruin his career, another about The Kid's troubled home life involving his abusive father and also a love story between him a hot young singer. None of these story lines really did it for me to be honest though. They all failed for me as they tented to be flat or like I said silly. The drama of the film just never got me. The supposed tension that should have been in the film just was not there. By the films end too it felt to me like there was no real conflict resolution either. Questions are left open that should have been addressed. I'm not going to give too much away, but the film really leaves us hanging on the out come of major plot points and character relationships. The film really does need some closure.
The film in all farness is not bad in every sense. It actually can boast one of the best soundtracks of all time and the music is amazing pure and simple. The film features one catchy song after another and the concert scenes are tremendous. In fact the best part of the film would have to be the great concert footage. When Prince is on stage he comes to life and shows emotions that he lacks in his acting. While watching the musical scenes I was riveted and was very entertained. Thats more than I can say for most of the film.
In all fairness this is not a terrible film, it is just not a well made one. If the script was a little tighter and the acting a little better then maybe I would like the film more. Those are the only two reasons that I cannot recommend this film. I could even learn to deal with the cheesy 1980's style if the film was a little better. Part of me wants to like this film but my critical side just can't allow me to do so. This film may have been so exciting at its release in the 1980's that people loved it, but its flaws shine brighter today with hindsight. My advice is skipping the film if you can and just buy the sound track. Purple Rain has some of the best music of the decade, but it is a flawed and dated film overall.
2/4 Stars
1 comment:
52 seconds into that video. Check it out.
And I enjoyed the movie. Keyword enjoyed.
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