Features:
- Color
- Closed-captioned
- Widescreen
- Surround Sound
Description:
A sort of fairy-tale sequel to Prince's enormously successful Purple Rain, 1990's Graffiti Bridge finds his purple highness not only singing and acting, but writing and directing, too. His performance suffers on all fronts. The film isn't a disaster, but it's safe to predict completist fans will make up most of its viewers. In the earlier film, Prince (known as the Kid) was fighting for his place on stage. This time he's fighting to keep his club safe from the money-grubbing hands of his musical rival, the Time's Morris Day, now a nightclub mogul. Day embodies spiritual, sexual, and economic corruption, while the Kid stands for salvation through music and a more redemptive form of lust. The graffiti bridge conceit--a metaphor for a place of rejuvenation and artistic inspiration--is intriguing. Unfortunately, the bridge itself is merely a prop in a Paisley Park soundstage. Where Purple Rain was a movie that set new standards for lensing musical performances, Graffiti Bridge feels like a music video masquerading as a movie. Lucky for us, Prince cast the honey-voiced poet and performer Ingrid Chavez as Aura, part muse and part angel to both Day and the Kid. Her beauty and charisma ignite every frame she graces. --Michael Mikesell
| 
