''The Purple Rose of Cairo''( 1985 movie)- Review

Directed by: Woody Allen
Released: 1985
Country: United States

Genre: Romantic comedy, Fantasy, Drama

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review

''The Purple Rose of Cairo'' tells the story Cecilia (Mia Farrow), a working class young woman stuck in an unhappy marriage. She finds solace in movies. She loves movies, and goes to the cinemas whenever she finds some time. One day, she watches a film called ''The Purple Rose of Cairo''. She falls in love with the film, watching it again and again. Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels) is a minor supporting character of the film. From behind the screen, the character suddenly notices Cecilia, sitting among the audience. Impressed by the fact that Cecilia loves the film so much, Tom Baxter just... steps out of the screen! He gets out of the film and steps into the reality. Cecilia helps him to run away, and over the course of time, falls in love with him.

On the other hand, the actor who played Tom Baxter, Gil Shephard (also played by Jeff Daniels) is worried because Baxter left the screen. Shephard is a rising star, and he is afraid that Baxter, whose face, obviously, matches his, may do such unlawful things that may become an obstacle in his (Gil's) path to success and reputation. He tries convincing Baxter to go back to the film, and meets Cecilia, who falls in love with Shephard.

In this complicated love triangle involving two worlds, the world of reality vs. the world of fiction, whom will Cecilia choose? The fiction, where everybody from the real world wants to go? Or to the world of realities, where everybody of the fictional world wants to come to?

I really loved the concept of the film, I really did. The entire film is so lovely, so sweet. I was really impressed with Mia Farrow's performance! She looked so sweet, so innocent, so lovable! Jeff Daniels's performances as Tom Baxter and Gil Shephard were both really good, really very good. 

The film is sweet, cute, lovely, and beautiful, funny and romantic, but the only thing that I found rather unexpected was the ending. Was that a bad ending? Definitely not: any ending that makes you overwhelmed with emotions is a perfect, or a near-perfect ending. The ending of ''The Purple Rose of Cairo'' is so strong and so unexpected that for me, it will always be one of the most unforgettable endings I have ever come across. I won't discuss the ending in detail, but I will definitely say that compared to the overall film, the ending was unexpected, and while the entire film kept me uplifted, I ended up with a lump in my throat, overwhelmed with emotions, when the film ended. 

It is a near-perfect film that I would recommend to everybody, and, I think, after ''Manhattan'', it is my favorite Woody Allen film.

4.5 out of 5