PURPLE HEARTS
(director: Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum; screenwriters: Kyle Jarrow/Liz W. Garcia; cinematographer: Matt Sakatani Roe; editor: Ishai Setton; music: Tony Kanal/Blake Neely; cast: Sofia Carson (Cassie), Chosen Jacobs (Frankie), Nicholas Galitzine (Luke), Linden Ashby (Jacob Morrow, Sr.), John Harlan Kim (Toby), Anthony Ippolito (Johnno), Sarah Rich (Hailey), Scott Deckert (Jacob Morrow, Jr.); Runtime: 123; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Amy Baer/Leslie Morgenstein/Eiysa Koplovitz Dutto; Netflix; 2022)
“Instead of being so lightweight, contrived and insignificant, it could have been a valuable satire on the questionable U.S. health care system.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum (“Careful What You Wish For”/”Sneakerella”) directs this predicable and ridiculous romance film, geared for a YA audience, and filled with original songs (“Come Back Home,” “Blue Side of the Sky,” “Hate the Way” and “I Didn’t Know”) and set in Oceanside, California (filmed on location at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton). It’s limply written by Kyle Jarrowitz and Liz W, Garcia.
The story tells of a former addict (owing his smarmy dealer (Anthony Ippolito) $15,000) who became a Marine, Luke (Nicholas Galitzine), to get his father’s (Linden Ashby) approval and get out of debt, and of a struggling financially strapped waitress/singer-songwriter, Cassie Salazar (Sofia Carson, Disney alum & pop star), covered with body tattoos, suffering from Type 1 Diabetes, which requires taking the expensive drug Insulin. They wed for financial reasons–so they can get the benefits the military allots to marrieds.
A tragedy changes things, as Luke is wounded in combat while in Iraq and it’s questioned if their marriage of convenience will hold-up.
Instead of being so lightweight, contrived and insignificant, it could have been a valuable satire on the questionable U.S. health care system. But it focuses on telling us some nonsense that opposites attract sometimes. It would have been better if the couple actually had a better chemistry together.
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum (“Careful What You Wish For”/”Sneakerella”) directs this predicable and ridiculous romance film, geared for a YA audience, and filled with original songs (“Come Back Home,” “Blue Side of the Sky,” “Hate the Way” and “I Didn’t Know”). It’s set in Oceanside, California (filmed on location at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton). The drama is limply written by Kyle Jarrowitz and Liz W, Garcia.
The story tells of a former addict Luke (Nicholas Galitzine), owing his smarmy dealer (Anthony Ippolito) $15,000, who became a Marine to get his father’s (Linden Ashby) approval and get out of debt, and of a struggling financially strapped waitress/singer-songwriter, Cassie Salazar (Sofia Carson, Disney alum & pop star), covered with body tattoos, suffering from Type 1 Diabetes, which requires taking the expensive drug Insulin marrying. They wed for financial reasons–so they can get the benefits the military allots to marrieds.
A tragedy changes things, as Luke is wounded in combat while in Iraq and it’s questioned if their marriage of convenience will hold-up.
Instead of being so lightweight, contrived and insignificant, it could have been a valuable satire on the questionable U.S. health care system. But it focuses on telling us some nonsense that sometimes opposites attract. It would have been better perceived if the couple actually had a better chemistry together.
REVIEWED ON 8/15/2022 GRADE: C