Saturday, February 3, 2024

The Color Purple (2023)

Nominated for Best Supporting Actress    A movie adaptation of a musical adaptation of a movie adaptation of a book.  It's not bad but also not a substantial improvement.

Celie (Fantasia Barrino) has been treated poorly by the men in her life as far as she can remember.  Her father (Deon Cole) sexually abused her as a child, giving her two children away, then sold her in marriage to Mister (Colman Domingo), who beat and belittled her and drove her beloved sister, Nettie (Halle Bailey), away.  But Celie persisted, becoming friends with Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), Mister's mistress, and Sofia (Danielle Brooks), his daughter-in-law.  With these two strong role models, Celie finally finds the courage to stand up for herself.

My biggest complaint about this is that it never seems to forget it was a stage show.  The performances, the musical numbers, and the costumes all seem geared toward reaching the back row, not the couch.  Maybe that's not as jarring for some of you.  That's fine.  Give it a shot.  Everyone in it does great work. Danielle Brooks is nominated for the same role that almost won Oprah an Oscar in the original.  I don't know if she'll get it (I think it'll be America Ferrara) but it's a worthy role.  

The only other difference was the romantic sub-plot between Shug and Celie.  Some will call it pandering but I thought it worked in the film.  It didn't break my suspension of disbelief and it added a few really sweet moments between them.  There is also a cameo by original star Whoopi Goldberg, which I always love to see.

It's currently only available for rental, though you may be able to find it in a few theaters still.

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