Review of The Color Purple (1985) by Johnny T — 19 Feb 2012

It is a great, warm, hard, unforgiving, triumphant movie, and there is not a scene that does not shine with the love of the people who made it. Spielberg's classicism comes to be appreciated in a goosebumps-inducing send-off for Mister. The affirmation at the end of the film is so joyous that this is one of the few movies in a long time that inspires tears of happiness, and earns them. And then, at the center of the movie, Celie is played by Whoopi Goldberg in one of the most amazing debut performances in movie history. There is a moment in Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple" when a woman named Celie smiles and smiles and smiles. That was the moment when I knew this movie was going to be as good as it seemed, was going to keep the promise it made by daring to tell Celie's story. It is not a story that would seem easily suited to the movies. Brilliant, disturbing storytelling by Spielberg with standout performances. "The Color Purple" is not the story of her suffering but of her victory, and by the end of her story this film had moved me and lifted me up as few films have.

VERDICT: "High-Quality Stuff" - [Positive Reaction] This is a rating to a movie I view as very entertaining and well made, and definitely worth paying the full price at a theatre to see or own on DVD. It is not perfect, but it is definitely excellent. (Films that are rated 3.5 or 4 stars).