I actually did a collaborative review the first time, and gave my thoughts on both versions of The Color Purple. At the time, what I had of the remake did not have audio description, and MAX still carries the original without accessibility. However, I did rewatch The Color Purple, when I was later provided audio description, so I wanted to make an official review and grade. No longer will I recognize it as being unwatchable.
I adore this remake, and Danielle Brooks is just on fire. I think she’s a tremendous talent, but there’s so much of that on display. Fantasia Barrino, a reality show winner who couldn’t even act well enough to play herself in her own biopic years ago, has come a long way. Someone must be responsible for this transformation. She may not have followed American Idol Season 3 fellow contestant Jennifer Hudson all the way to the Oscars, but a Golden Globe and BAFTA nomination is nothing to scoff at. And yes, Coleman Domingo is outstanding, and Taraji P Henson is stellar, even if she’s overshadowed by her scene partners from time to time.
The audio description puts things into a much clearer perspective, with certain scenes finally making sense. Like when Celie spits in the water glass of the verbally abusive Old Mister, or when she takes in a film during the lovely What About Love, that takes them on a journey unlike any other. there’s a lot happening visually, and the audio description really helped to shape that.
The only thing I have against this film is the thing I have against a lot of musicals. Don’t cut songs, and then write new ones in their place. This is a growing trend, with musicals constantly chasing the success of Dreamgirls’s Listen. It is rare to write something that is as memorable. The new songs here were rightly denied Oscar nominations. Perhaps, if we had been allowed to experience Any Little Thing instead, the movie would have felt more complete. This is problematic with all recent musicals, including Mean Girls (which ditches Damien’s catchy intro Where Do You belong?), In The Heights (which deleted almost everything featuring Abuela Claudia, the hart of the musical), Dear Evan Hansen (which turned the dad into a stepdad, and killed To Break In A Glove), The Little Mermaid (which refused to use Eric’s Her Voice from the Broadway musical and just wrote something that this Eric could sing), and Beauty and the Beast (which swapped If I Can’t Love Her for Nevermore, despite them being about the same exact thing). It is starting to make me afraid of musicals. I half expect Wicked to abandon The Wizard and I and replace it with some nonsense.
But, I did enjoy this film and its incredible and breathtaking cast, all of whom can really sing, and didn’t need auto tune or pitch correction to make them sound inhuman.
Plus, there is no greater affirmation than listening to someone sing the absolute shit out of I’m Here.
Final Grade: A-
