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The Color Purple (1985)

PG-1312/18/1985Drama, History2h 34m

It's about life. It's about love. It's about us.

Overview

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.

Top Billed Cast

  1. Cast 1

    Danny Glover

    Albert

  2. Cast 1

    Whoopi Goldberg

    Celie

  3. Cast 1

    Margaret Avery

    Shug Avery

  4. Cast 1

    Oprah Winfrey

    Sofia

  5. Cast 1

    Willard E. Pugh

    Harpo

  6. Cast 1

    Akosua Busia

    Nettie

  7. Cast 1

    Desreta Jackson

    Young Celie

  8. Cast 1

    Adolph Caesar

    Old Mr.

  9. Cast 1

    Rae Dawn Chong

    Squeak

Well, this is one of those movies that hinges on a singular performance. In this case it's Danny Glover who is absolutely amazing in his role, probably the best performance of his career, and one of the best that came out of the 80s. But Goldberg and Oprah really stink. I don't know what was going on there but they were all over the place. However, despite them, Glover does carry the role, and Spielberg realized that this was a film adapted from a play. He kind of took that and ran with it, so the performances (minus two notable ones) were as earnest as you would get in live theater, the...