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The Color Purple

Play trailer Poster for The Color Purple PG-13 Released Dec 18, 1985 2h 32m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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73% Tomatometer 126 Reviews 94% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), 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 (Danny Glover), 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. Based on the novel by Alice Walker.
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The Color Purple

The Color Purple

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Critics Consensus

It might have been better served by a filmmaker with a deeper connection to the source material, but The Color Purple remains a worthy, well-acted adaptation of Alice Walker's classic novel.

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Critics Reviews

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Dorothy Gilliam Washington Post I anxiously awaited the coming of this movie. Last week I saw it, and I was not disappointed. Indeed, when it concluded, I stood up and cheered. May 31, 2023 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times It is a great, warm, hard, unforgiving, triumphant movie, and there is not a scene that does not shine with the love of the people who made it. Rated: 4/4 May 31, 2023 Full Review Anne Marie Biondo Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com The Color Purple is easily the best movie of the year. Rated: 4/4 May 31, 2023 Full Review Sue Heal Radio Times Whoopi Goldberg is wonderful in the lead, Danny Glover and Margaret Avery are sublime, and watch out for a pre-TV-fame Oprah Winfrey playing very out of character. Rated: 4/5 Apr 4, 2024 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Celie’s journey, though wrought with hardships, is thought-provoking, educational, nerve-wracking and, finally, wholesome and triumphant. Rated: 7/10 Jan 1, 2024 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy The movie gains in strength the longer it plays out. Rated: 3/4 Dec 26, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Eric W. Absolutely brilliant and heartbreaking. It’s disturbing to me that so many people protested this film. It’s also a snapshot of Oprah and Whoopie before they were losing their marbles. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/13/25 Full Review Tricia W This is one of the best movies ever made in my opinion. It tugs at your heart strings from beginning to end, and the acting is unbelievable. Oprah, Whoopie, and Danny absolutely kill it! There's sadness, anger, joy, and the ending is just about the best I've ever seen. I can't recommend this movie enough. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/11/25 Full Review Stephen C Featuring 2 hours and 32 minutes of footage, including Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $93,400,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/04/25 Full Review Jerrod G Beautiful movie just all around with great plot and ending Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/15/25 Full Review thiago s Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, o elenco é mais ou menos, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, a história é fraca, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/25 Full Review Peter V I recommend this movie to everybody, in my eyes the best movie I have ever seen. Saw it several times and every time made me cry and the end. I'm not a fan of Oprah Winfrey but what did she nailed it in this movie. Also Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and other cast. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/23/25 Full Review Read all reviews
The Color Purple

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Cast & Crew

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Steven Spielberg

Director

Whoopi Goldberg

Celie

Danny Glover

Albert

Margaret Avery

Shug Avery

Oprah Winfrey

Sofia

Willard E. Pugh

Harpo

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The Color Purple

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Movie Info

Synopsis An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), 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 (Danny Glover), 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. Based on the novel by Alice Walker.
Director
Steven Spielberg
Producer
Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Quincy Jones
Screenwriter
Alice Walker, Menno Meyjes
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Warner Brothers, Guber-Peters Company, Amblin Entertainment
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 18, 1985, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
May 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$93.4M
Runtime
2h 32m
Sound Mix
Surround
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