Im sure this has been discused a million times already .. but iwas watching purple rain the other day.. and i cant work out if he can actually act or whether im just so into him that everything he does seems amazing?? i can tell when the others are shit at acting in the film.. but prince seems to do a good job.. same in UTCM.... i think hes really fuckin' good!! what do other peoplethink?

I think he was just acting like himself, now if he ever played someone else we'd know for sure.

I thought he did good smashing all those preserves and pickles (what were they?) down in the basement in Purple Rain.

ufoclub said:

You're probably poking fun...but that entire basement scene was good. People don't realize how difficult it is to let go completely. You think it'd be a snap -- and a lot of fun -- but it isn't, really.

I think he was just acting like himself, now if he ever played someone else we'd know for sure.

ufoclub said:

You're probably poking fun...but that entire basement scene was good. People don't realize how difficult it is to let go completely. You think it'd be a snap -- and a lot of fun -- but it isn't, really.

Genesia said:

I was trying to be funny, but I really do think he did well in the upset scenes in Purple Rain. One of the reasons the movie works so well.

But what's in the jars?

Genesia said:

while i respect your obvious intimate knowledge of "the craft" i just can't get over your appreciation for prince's acting skills cause the guy is horrible at acting. not for one second did i believe he was portraying a character...not once was a sold...well, except for when he was performing on stage.

sosgemini said:

Uneducated opinions are no less valid for that fact.

Genesia said:

oh, so your claiming im uneducated ehh?



well, if your view on prince's acting ability is any indication maybe you should give up acting and just go straight to working at mcdonalds.

Here is a narrative film with music, shot and edited in the jazzily manic, staccato style favored by every rock documentary since ''Woodstock,'' at the center of which there is the small, slight, somewhat nervous figure of Prince himself. When performing onstage, as he is in much of the film, whether photographed frontally, in profile or silhouetted against a manmade aurora borealis, he can be a riveting spectacle. Off the stage, his screen presence is a pale reflection of the dynamic recording personality.

With his mass of carefully tended, black curly locks and his large, dark doe eyes, he looks, in repose, like a poster of Liza Minnelli on which someone has lightly smudged a mustache. When astride his large motorcycle, as he is from time to time, the image suggests one of Jim Henson's special effects from a Muppets movie: Kermit the Frog on a Harley- Davidson. In the depths of depression, pacing back and forth in his dressing room, he expresses all the pent-up rage of a caged mouse.

Prince is no actor -- he tends to mumble. But he can kiss a beautiful woman onscreen without looking like a geek, and not every guy can do that. The real film talent here, though, is Morris Day, who plays the Kid's funkster rival on the Minneapolis club scene.

sf chronicle:

You seem to have a massive personal stake in proving you're right. So, fine -- have it your way.

You didn't include the name of the reviewer with that NYT bit. But surely you know that the mere fact that someone gets a review published doesn't make their opinion more valid than anyone else's. It just means they're good enough with words to get a writing job.

Doesn't it strike you as odd that what you quoted isn't so much about Prince's acting as what he looks like? "Kermit the Frog on a Harley-Davidson"? "Caged mouse"? Liza Minnelli with a drawn-on mustache? That's not a review of his acting -- it's an ad hominem attack on his appearance.

Nice try, though!

sosgemini said:

They said that about Orson Welles, Rod Steiger and Marlon Brando, too.

You seem to have a massive personal stake in proving you're right. So, fine -- have it your way.

You didn't include the name of the reviewer with that NYT bit. But surely you know that the mere fact that someone gets a review published doesn't make their opinion more valid than anyone else's. It just means they're good enough with words to get a writing job.

Doesn't it strike you as odd that what you quoted isn't so much about Prince's acting as what he looks like? "Kermit the Frog on a Harley-Davidson"? "Caged mouse"? Liza Minnelli with a drawn-on mustache? That's not a review of his acting -- it's an ad hominem attack on his appearance.

Nice try, though!

Genesia said:

I thought the same thing. where is the diss on Prince's acting skills? whatever

I wouldn't call Prince's acting skills great, but c'mon, he and the other characters in the movie did a pretty decent job and they all fit right into the mood and direction of the movie. Purple Rain was a pretty good movie, it was cut very well, it was one of a kind at the time, I personally have never seen anything like it, and there's a reason why it just blew up and captured so many people.

In the depths of depression, pacing back and forth in his dressing room, he expresses all the pent-up rage of a caged mouse.

as a train actor who now owns a smoked BBQ business

Im sure this has been discused a million times already .. but iwas watching purple rain the other day.. and i cant work out if he can actually act or whether im just so into him that everything he does seems amazing?? i can tell when the others are shit at acting in the film.. but prince seems to do a good job.. same in UTCM.... i think hes really fuckin' good!! what do other peoplethink?