Sadly Over-hyped

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

What is worse, even this 1990's Prince's flick was a total disaster. No wonder both Madonna and Kim Bassinger turned it down. The so-called sequel to equally tasteless Purple Rain is a vanity project for Prince, empty from the start and nothing but a waste of effort, time, money and patience. Bad to the very marrow, it again shows how fragile and slick Prince was as an actor, how schematic the plot is, how languidly the story unveils. Yest another failure. D'oh, sorry

There is a a part of this movie where George Clinton is performing, and the back up singers are singing "Ruff... Meow." It is the most brilliant and hilarious thing I've ever heard. Unfortunately it's not on the soundtrack. If anyone can give me information on how to find this song, I will do something special for them. This movie is worth seeing solely for the part mentioned above, but also when Prince's strange muse transforms herself to go out with Morris Day. She really cleans up. Plus, Teving Campbell's performance is classic, and Morris Day is always entertaining. I recommend this movie for anyone who has said they love Purple Rain, but hate Rasberry Beret.

I am a die-hard fan of Prince and his music, but even I thought this movie was horrible! The plot lacks sunstance, and viewers are left with little comprehension and a lot of guesswork. This movie was weak--at best! I was, and still am--very disappointed.

Maybe I'm not the best person to judge a Prince film as I am partial to his music. And, while he's no De Niro, with his expressive face, I don't think he's that terrible an actor either. I wouldn't particularly want to see him taking on "straight" roles, but he gives a performance that can carry a well-meaning musical, as indeed this is.Yet despite all this, Graffiti Bridge is a movie I had low expectations of after poor reviews and a straight-to-video release in the UK. Not only that, but the soundtrack album, an eclectic collection of songs at best, was perhaps Prince's only faux pas in his strong 1980-1991 period. While Controversy may have been indulgent and Batman/Diamonds and Pearls more progressively mainstream, none of the albums contained anything as truly terrible as this film's title song, arguably the worst Prince song of all time.Yet the film – an unofficial sequel to Purple Rain - is surprisingly entertaining. The direction by Prince himself is remarkably assured, and while the performances by fellow musicians aren't quite so polished, they are fun, Morris Day particularly. Only Ingrid Chavez really disappoints with a slightly wooden diction. The script isn't all that hot, though Prince shows noted self-effacement in the dialogue on occasion. (He's alternately described as a "little cricket" and a "little prick" at various stages). As he himself said around the time, he wasn't trying to be Francis Ford Coppola.The deliberately cartoonish, pseudo-noir sets evoke memories of the Tim Burton Batman movies, while the variable song material works far better within the film's framework than as a stand-alone CD spin-off. All are present and correct from said album, except the opener "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got". The movie also contains four songs not on the soundtrack – "Seven Corners", "Blondie", "Jerk Out" and "Number 1". In the case of the latter, a trite ditty performed by Robin Power, this is perhaps fortunate. The tracks are arguably more derivative than usual – the funky "Shake!" has a chord line more than a little similar to "96 Tears". Though that said, while not first-rate Prince, songs like New Power Generation, Thieves in the Temple and Still Would Stand All Time are above standard. Even weaker efforts like The Question of U and Elephants & Flowers seem improved within this context, even if the miming doesn't always convince.Some of the dance sequences – The Time performing Release It and, in particular, prodigiously talented Tevin Campbell with Round and Round - are excellent. Some of the dialogue passages ("Abandoned on the street at the tender age of seven, how could I ever learn the real meaning of Heaven?") indicate the artist's increasing pretension and loss of irony, however. While the repetitious drama inherent – Prince as noble romantic underdog hero; Day as all-powerful, lecherous villain – doesn't really go anywhere, but this is by no means the turkey it's trumped up to be. Admittedly more of a film for aficionados of Prince and his music, as a light-hearted showcase of said subject it succeeds admirably. Post-script, August 2016: When I reviewed this 15 years ago I said "Maybe I'm not the best person to judge a Prince film"... how right I was. Somehow managing to give it 6/10, I watched what is a sub-par movie through Purple tinted glasses. Prince fans might enjoy this film... but only once.