**THE WACPINE OF ‘THE COLOR PURPLE’**

WRITING: 7
ATMOSPHERE: 8
CHARACTERS: 9
PRODUCTION: 9
INTRIGUE: 6
NOVELTY: 6
ENJOYMENT: 7

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**The Good:**

This is such a beautiful film to look at. The production design makes one feel warm and fuzzy, like hearing a good story from better days long gone. The camera moves seamlessly across the world and amidst the characters, creating a wholly satisfying experience.

Deserta Jackson is one of the better young actors I've ever had the pleasure to watch. She immediately captures the personality of Celie and delves deep into the character, bringing her alive. It's impossible not to feel sorry for her or not to find her wonderful. Even better is Whoopi Goldberg in a touching and vibrant performance as the older Celie. Her emotional spectrum is amazing and she brings so much heart to the role. The fact that she can say so much by not saying anything at all is amazing.

Danny Glover is impeccable as the cold and ruthless Albert. You want to punch him for bullying Celie so, and his willingness to fully bring forward the dark and unlikeable aspects of the character is what makes him such a compelling villain.

I like how the script deals with domestic violence and the black community in the state of Georgia in the early 1900s. The script feels ahead of its time by bringing up social, racial and feminist issues that still haunt us to this day, even if the debate has turned into a new gear in the past few years.

It’s fascinating how this film tells the wider story of several different people in the same area for several decades - but they're all connected by Celie's journey through life, trying to find her place in society.

Despite the historical drama and the very real-life issues that this film centres around, it's not difficult to find some of the magical and escapist elements Spielberg is best known for through his fantasy and science-fiction films. There are those lighter moments of wonder and faith that bring back memories from some of the director’s best movies.

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**The Bad:**

After a very promising beginning, with a solid groundwork laid and the elements of an immersive story planted, the middle part of the film drags out somewhat with several sequences that don’t seem to develop the plot much.

Despite several wonderful moments and "Spielbergisms", this film doesn't hit quite as hard as I'd hoped. The steam runs out halfway through and the emotional side rarely delivers the punches the script needs to remain engaging for the full 150 minutes.

The plot strays away to Celie's sister’s story, which is understandable since we want to know what has happened to her just as much as she does, but it takes away the focus from Celie's journey, which is already stretched out.

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**The Ugly:**

It takes 130 minutes before the film's title is mentioned in dialogue. That's a long wait.

(This is the third Spielberg film to end on a shot of a sunset, so that's becoming something of a director trademark).

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**WACPINE RATING: 7.43 / 10 = 3,5 stars**