- Selma Blair, Debra Messing - copyright, People Magazine
Purple Violets is Ed Burns’ most recent romantic rehashing of a story involving two reunited couples, brought back together twelve years later in superbly contrived and weak circumstances. As is often the case with Burns’ films, the actors turn in strong performances, though they are stuck in a weak story. The leads are played by Patrick Wilson and Selma Blair, two writers driven apart by change, with supporting roles going to Ed Burns and Debra Messing (the latter whose onscreen time is criminally short). The writing is decent, and while none of the characters ring terribly false, they also sink fast amidst dull events and unbelievable situations.
Ed Burns Strengths Showcased Early On
Burns had a strong start years ago with the uber low-budget but incredibly charming The Brothers McMullen. She’s the One followed shortly—despite its mixed reviews, the film retained a warm wit and charm that has rarely been seen again, except perhaps in glimpses. Burns has always shown concern in writing his female characters, often seeking out real-life female friends to sniff out any phony dialogue. His female characters are often strong, independent but not without big romantic streaks. Sadly, he cannot seem to put them in very compelling stories.
Continuing to Churn Out Predictability
Burns’ desire to be not just a New York filmmaker but a Woody Allen-caliber filmmaker, is always painfully apparent in each of these films as they keep turning up; the fact that someone bankrolls these mediocre exercises in vanilla filmmaking can’t be too surprising while Uwe Boll and M. Night Shyamalan continue to work. And like the horror/suspense genre, romantic (comedies? dramadies?) supposedly draw just as big a crowd to theaters. Burns' films, however, usually have limited initial release and don't get strong theater draws. Respectfully, he opted for innovation and tried a new approach this go around.
Download Only
Violets was never released theatrically; notably, it was the first feature film available exclusively for download, premiering at the Apple Media Store. It was a strong download, only dropping from the top ten after five or six weeks. Burns' decision prompted many a "Is Going to the Movie Theater Dead?" type articles, and it's a great discussion when you look at movie viewer's cost ($9.99 is certainly cheaper than tickets for two.)
Hollow Content, Netflix It
But at the end of the day, when the marketing of your film is worth more discussion than the content of the film itself, something's missing. Purple Violets is a nice enough way to pass the time, but it utterly lacks the compelling events or charisma of his first two films. It truly feels as though this story has been watered down from the initial strong start Burns once had, leaving it void of real personality. (And for what it's worth, it's also now available to rent from Netflix.)
Margaret Burke - Margaret Burke currently resides in Boston, MA. She graduated from the University of North Texas in 2000 with a BA in Radio/TV/Film and a ...
