Expecting good musicians to be good actors is like expecting a football champ to also be an amazing souffle cook—and it’s for that reason that I forgive Prince for one of the worst lead acting performances of 1984 here.
After Prince’s death last week, theaters are reviving his most famous film and many who go out to see it are respectfully stifling their laughter at what a cornball it is. Without the classic songs, this would be one of the Big Bad Movies of the Eighties. Nothing wrong with that, either. Star vehicles for pop musicians are the perfect place for camp, intentional or not. You can add Purple Rain to the list right next to Elvis movies, Hard to Hold with Rick Springfield and Mariah Carey’s Glitter. Set in the Minneapolis club scene where troubled up-and-comer Prince (aka, “The Kid”) faces off against slick rivals The Time for dominance, this film asks us to believe that a band can get away with a show in which they play only one song. Its most unbelievable moments though are when Prince rides around the city on a purple motorcycle while wearing a purple coat and a white ruffled shirt and NO ONE laughs at him.
First-time feature director Albert Magnoli’s great strength here: Making Prince’s height (a cool 5’2″) unnoticeable.
Magnoli’s blazing weakness: The ultra-clumsy dramatic moments involving Prince’s wife-beating father (Clarence Williams III).
Best actor: Morris Day, who earns nearly all of the film’s intentional laughs, even when one of the gags he’s handed is a lame “Who’s on First?” rip-off.
Best hair: Yeesh, everybody wins this one, from the entire main cast to the dyed and glittered extras in the club audience shots. The hair stylist crew should have been paid more than the writers.
Top dated moment: The scene where Prince ends a tiff with Apollonia by smacking her in the face and sending her flying into a dresser. You couldn’t get away with that in a movie today.
Fuck, you couldn’t get away with ANY of this in a movie today.