American Idol

‘The Color Purple’ (2023) Movie and 4K Review

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

The following review was written by Ultimate Rabbit correspondent, Tony Farinella.

It wasn’t that long ago when I had the pleasure of reviewing 1985’s “The Color Purple” on this very website, and I absolutely adored the film.  When I heard there was going to be another adaptation, I was eager to see how it was going to turn out, especially because it was going to be a musical.  Musicals are tricky, as they need just the right amount of music to make it work.  The music needs to really lend itself to the scenes instead of taking over the film entirely. If it’s one song after another without any time to let them breathe, it can take away from the performances on screen. I’m happy to report “The Color Purple” has all of the right ingredients to succeed with flying colors.

The film follows two sisters, Celie and Nettie Harris (Phylicia Pearl Mpasi and Halle Bailey) who are stuck living with an angry and abusive father named Alfonso, played by Deon Cole. He’s especially hard on Celie, who has two children after being raped by her own father.  He separates her from her children, which causes her much distress and agony. It isn’t long before the two sisters are separated after their father gives away Celie to a man by the name of Mister, played by Colman Domingo.

Mister is a farmer who already has three children of his own, and he’s equally as rough on Celie as her father.  She’s basically doing everything for him, and she feels defeated from the years of abuse from both her father and her current husband. In addition to this, Mister is also hiding all the letters she receives from her sister Nettie, so they have no contact with one another.  Between not being able to see her children or her sister, she feels like life is nothing but misery and pain for her each and every day.

As Celie gets older, she is played by “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino.  She definitely has the emotional range as an actress to pull off this incredibly demanding performance. When it comes to the musical numbers, it is second nature to her.  Along the way, she gets to know Sofia, played by Danielle Brooks. She is married to Mister’s son, Harpo (Corey Hawkins), and she is not afraid to whip him into shape.  This is the first time that Celie has seen a strong female in her life.  She is used to women having to take everything from their husbands without being able to defend themselves.  It is certainly not the case with Sofia.  One day, Celie hopes to be as strong as Sofia.  She also meets another strong and confident woman in Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), a jazz singer who completely captivates Mister.

During this film, we see a journey which starts in 1909 and goes all the way until 1947, and it’s one of two sisters who are bound and determined to meet up with one another again, no matter what it takes. Along the way, even Sofia deals with some hardships of her own and feels defeated and drained by her new circumstances.  Celie learns to grow and finds out how to stand on her own two feet.  Heck, even Mister learns a thing or two about himself and how he needs to modify his own behavior.  Everyone’s character arch is worth watching throughout the course of the film’s two hour and twenty-minute run time. 

This is a film that never feels boring, stale, or repetitive because these are fleshed out characters whom, as an audience, you care about and root for throughout the course of the story.  For the most part, the film is pretty true to the original 1985 film in terms of its major moments.  As a whole, it works on so many levels. It starts with this tremendous cast of actors and actresses from Fantasia Barrino to Taraji P. Henson to Danielle Brooks to Colman Domingo to Corey Hawkins to Gabriella Wilson ‘H.E.R.’. Everyone brings their heart and soul to the project in addition to their lungs. They were very diligent about putting this cast together from top-to-bottom. Ciara also appears as an older version of Nettie.

“The Color Purple” is ultimately a story about sisterhood, resiliency, strength, and the human spirit. I don’t think it’s fair to compare the two films as they are trying to accomplish the same thing while going about it in completely different ways. The music enhances the story and adds a different take to the material while also keeping the essence of Steven Spielberg’s original film alive and well.  For my money, this is a perfect film.  I was emotional during it, I laughed at the appropriate moments, and the songs stayed with me as well.  I wanted to listen to the soundtrack as soon as the film was over, and I played it on repeat.

Remakes of popular films are tough to pull off, especially when it’s from a novel, a nearly forty-year-old film, and a successful Broadway musical as well. However, when the new version is a fan of the original film, you have what is known as a labor of love.  If you enjoyed 1985’s “The Color Purple,” you will certainly enjoy 2023’s “The Color Purple.” It is about perspective, though.  I believe this film needs to be seen as its own entity.  If you are able to do that, you will enjoy the heck out of it. 

The filmmakers know the audience cares about these characters, knows them, and wants to see them succeed.  It takes you on an emotional journey from start to finish with a tremendous payoff in the end which is very satisfying. You very much live through these characters. You feel their pain, their happiness, and you root for them to succeed. Along the way you laugh, you cry, and you never lose hope.  That, in my opinion, is the beauty of a great film like “The Color Purple.”  There is a reason why this story has stayed with people for so many years and still resonates with viewers to this day.

* * * * out of * * * *

4K Info: “The Color Purple” is released on a single-disc 4K from Warner Brothers Home Entertainment. It also comes with a digital copy of the film. It has a running time of 141 minutes and is rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexual content, violence and language.

Video Info:  There is a beautiful Dolby Vision transfer on the film here, and it looks magnificent. This is a film filled with life and color, and it’s on full-display with this flawless transfer. The HDR really brings out the richness of the picture quality.

Audio Info:  We are also treated to a pitch-perfect Dolby Atmos soundtrack here which allows us to enjoy each and every single song the way it was intended to be heard.  It stays at just the right bass and volume throughout the film, as it’s never too loud or too soft.

Special Features:

Creating The Color Purple: A Bold New Take on the Beloved Classic

Hell Yes! The Iconic Characters of The Color Purple

In the Flow: Creating The Color Purple’s Biggest Musical Moments

 A Story For Me: The Legacy of The Color Purple

Should You Buy It?

If you enjoy the power of cinema, do yourself a favor and pick up “The Color Purple” on the day of its release.  It is worth every penny, especially with the special features that are included here along with a Dolby Vision transfer and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.  This is also a terrific film that really tugged at my heartstrings.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I put this movie in my 4K player and sat down to watch it.  However, I was blown away by its high-energy, its music, the intense drama, and the phenomenal performances. This version of “The Color Purple,” which was directed by Blitz Bazawule, is the kind of movie I wish Hollywood made more of these days.  It’s an adult drama that invigorates the spirit and is good for the soul.  “The Color Purple” on 4K comes highly recommended as a day one purchase.

**Disclaimer** I received a copy of this film from Warner Brothers to review for free.  The opinions and statements in the review are mine and mine alone.

Jennifer Lopez on Playing Leslie Rodgers in ‘Parker’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Jennifer Lopez in Parker

WRITER’S NOTE: This article was written back in 2013.

Jennifer Lopez has been so deeply involved in the music business for the last few years to where it is easy to forget she is also an actress. Now that her stint on “American Idol” is over, she gets the opportunity to be an actress again in Taylor Hackford’s “Parker.” In it she plays Leslie Rogers, an unsuccessful real estate agent and recent divorcee who has been dealt an unlucky hand in life and is forced to live with her overbearing mother Ascension (Patti LuPone) almost against her will. While “Parker” itself is not a great movie, it allows Lopez to give her best performance since she acted opposite George Clooney in “Out of Sight.”

The part of Leslie Rogers came to Lopez while she was filming a season of “American Idol,” and it made her realize what was missing from her life at that point. In talking with Nina Terrero of NBC Latino, she explained how she was drawn to “Parker’s” screenplay, and being on the set of this movie made her realize how much she wanted to go back to doing this kind of work.

“To be honest, I had been doing music, releasing two albums,” Lopez said. “And when I got the chance to do this movie between two seasons of ‘Idol,’ I realized how much I really missed acting; I hadn’t done enough of it over the past few years.”

“When they offered me a third season of ‘Idol,’ I just had to say no,” Lopez continued. “I made the decision that I was going to go back on tour and after that focus on film for the next few years. It’s just the perfect time in my life with the things that I’ve lived and the things I’ve experienced. I have so much to offer as an actor at this point in my life. I’m going to make music and I’m going to focus on my artistry.”

Filming “Parker” came also came around the time Lopez was divorcing from her husband of seven years, Marc Anthony. Now many have been quick to dismiss Lopez’s performance here as they have gotten so used to seeing her being so glamorous whenever she is in public. Regardless, she has been through a rough and tumble time, before and after she became famous, which people in general are not quick to acknowledge. She explained this in more detail during her interview with Terrero.

“We’re both human beings who’ve gone through hard and difficult times,” Lopez said of the similarities between herself and her character. “At this particular time, she’s recently divorced, a little desperate. When I was filming this role, I had similar feelings. I had recently decided to divorce and it was hard to get out of bed and go to the set every day. I knew what those feelings were, to feel your world was falling apart.”

Hackford himself had zero hesitation about casting Lopez in “Parker.” While it might seem rather odd to see this particular superstar playing a down on her luck character, Hackford had known her long enough to be aware of how she had to fight hard to get to where she is now. He made this clear to me during my one-on-one interview with him.

“I know who that person is, she’s for real,” Hackford said of Lopez. “You see the glamorous person out there in the world of entertainment, rich and famous and a lot of times you get a bad rap because people are jealous. But Jennifer’s the real person. She was a dancer and they can just work and work and work.”

“I trusted the fact that she was good, but I didn’t realize how good she is. She’s a fantastic actress. She walks on the set, she frees herself of all of that Jennifer Lopez stuff and she embodies the character,” Hackford continued. “You tell Jennifer a note and BANG! It’s there in the next take. Not partially there, it’s there. You think, my God she got it, she understood it. Now part of that’s me because if you can’t explain what you want, how do you expect someone to do it? But the other part of it is she’s got an instrument that is real and very developed. She’s a much better actress now that she ever was before, and she’s also gone through some things in her life. She’s got some miles on the treads of those tires, and ultimately she’s incorporated that. I think she’s terrific in this movie.”

Still, Lopez did show some hesitation in her scene with Jason Statham, who plays Parker of the movie’s title, where she has to strip down to her underwear to show him she is not wearing a wire. Even though Lopez said she spent a lot of time eating right and working out before filming this sequence, she is no less nervous about doing stuff like that today than when she first started out in movies.

“Doing scenes like this one are so nerve-wracking,” Lopez said. “You have to get mentally ready because it’s a vulnerable state, being in front of a crew having to do a scene like that. My heart beats getting ready for it, but you know at the end of the day it’s part of the job.”

Now many may still not be willing to give Jennifer Lopez the credit she deserves for her performance in “Parker,” but this will end up saying more about her critics than it will about her. Lopez actually proves to be quite believable as a divorcee who is trying to put her life back together with varying degrees of success, and she proves to be one of the things in this movie which actually works. At this point, her career can go in many different directions, and she is excited about the opportunities which are ahead of her.

“I always want my fans to be happy with what I do,” Lopez said. “But I don’t want to choose my projects based on what I think will please them. I choose projects that are I can excel in and that are real, not stuff that’s fake or forced. I don’t consider genre so much as having a great script, great director and great actors to play off of. Doing an intense drama scene can be as much fun as a romantic comedy. I enjoy all of it!”

SOURCES:

Nina Terrero, “Jennifer Lopez talks ‘Parker’ and her return to acting: ‘I have so much to offer,’” NBC Latino, January 22, 2013.

Ben Kenber, “Interview with Taylor Hackford on Parker,” We Got This Covered, January 25, 2013.