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Movies / On DVD / The Color Purple
The Color Purple

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The Color Purple (1985)

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88 %
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Reviews Counted:25

Fresh:22

Rotten:3

Average Rating:6.8/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 34 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg's masterful adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel stars Whoopi Goldberg, in her impressive screen debut, as Celie, a sharecropper's daughter living in rural... Steven Spielberg's masterful adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel stars Whoopi Goldberg, in her impressive screen debut, as Celie, a sharecropper's daughter living in rural Georgia. The film opens in 1909 when Celie is a young girl, a victim of incest, pregnant with her father's child. Ugly and unloved, separated from her children and her sister, Celie's only option is marriage to an abusive, philandering husband (Danny Glover) who treats her little better than a slave. Her life changes forever when her husband brings his mistress, a beautiful blues singer named Shug (Margaret Avery), into the house. THE COLOR PURPLE was also the film debut for Oprah Winfrey, who beautifully plays Celie's sister-in-law, Sofia. THE COLOR PURPLE was nominated for 11 Academy Awards (including one each for Goldberg, Avery, and Winfrey) but surprisingly won no Oscars, and although the film was nominated for a Best Picture award, Spielberg was snubbed by the academy and was not nominated for Best Director. [More]

Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey

Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, Akosua Busia, Willard Pugh

Director: Steven Spielberg

Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: Menno Meyjes
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Quincy Jones
Composer: Quincy Jones

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Color Purple

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
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Unashamedly emotional, it either totally grabs you or leaves you cold.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
11/15/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment 1 Comment
08/19/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

comment 1 Comment
09/23/04
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

No review available.

comment Comment
11/13/03
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

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.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/30/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Spielberg adapts Alice Walker's novel with respect and (heretofore unseen) mature artistry.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

Spielberg may not have been the best choice to direct this feminist text, making a clean, neat movie that lacks authenticity, but the movie has many touching moments and the entire female ensemble is good, particularly Whoopi Goldberg in the second half

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/05/09
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

A work of heart and soul dazzlingly performed by Spielberg's tightest ensemble since Jaws.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
02/16/03
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

No review available.

comment Comment
05/06/05
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Film Threat

It is unquestionably overwrought, but it is a truly lovely film with a lot of emotion in it. The meaning of all that emotion is unfortunately still up for grabs.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/23/03
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/23/03
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/13/02
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

Overrated, but still a good film.

comment 4 Comments
07/14/05
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

"a should-have-been masterpiece that admittedly has its moments"

comment Comment
07/29/02
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

Brilliant, disturbing storytelling by Spielberg with standout performances.

comment Comment
05/28/05
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

No review available.

comment 1 Comment
04/16/04
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
03/05/05
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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Latest News for The Color Purple

May 16, 2008: Steven Spielberg's Ten Best-Directed Films
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