The Prince celluloid collection consists of three films, the brilliant Purple Rain, the acceptable Under the Cherry Moon and the offensively terrible Graffiti Bridge.
While Under the Cherry Moon is not a bad movie, this reviewer would be much happier if Prince's film career consisted of only one film, the classic Purple Rain. But the phenomenon that is Prince could not be contained in the '80s and so here we have his second cinematic outing, Under the Cherry Moon.
Gigolo con-artist Christopher Tracey (Prince) and his partner in crime Tricky (Jerome Benton) make their money by conning rich married women out of their money. When the pair discover that wealthy heiress Mary Sharon (Kristen Scott Thomas) is inheriting 50 million dollars when she turns 21, they target her as their next conquest but in his pursuit of her money, Christopher falls in love with Mary, much to the disappoval of her father. I would continue with more detail of the plot, but it's really not important, the most important thing about this film is Prince.
In Purple Rain Prince really didn’t need to be able to act because his onstage performances were always electrifying and disguised his limited acting ability. But Under the Cherry Moon is not about music and Prince is actually required to carry this movie on his acting talent alone. He is actually quite good, but really not good enough to sustain a 90 minute feature. Ultimately, the interesting look and feel of the film, which blends 1920s fashion, 1940s architecture and the very 1980s Prince is overshadowed by a very poor script and an overdose of on-screen Prince.
Under the Cherry Moon is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and is 16:9 enhanced. This is a film that's interesting to watch on DVD, as it has a very distinct look. It was originally shot in color and then altered to black and white in post production. Because of this process the film has a very soft look and therefore details are only adequate. The print is relatively clean, but not particularly crisp or clear. Edge enhancment is apparent through the entire film and grain and dirt are also frequent.
For all the little quibbles, this is actually a pretty solid transfer and although the overall softness is problematic, this is probably the best the film is ever going to look.
The audio package is Dolby Digital 2.0 surround that is perfectly adequate for this feature. Dialogue is clear and audible and comes through the front and centre speakers. The rest of the channels and the subwoofer don’t make a peep. There really isn’t any need for the sound of this picture to be a booming spread across all the channels mix. Overall this is a solid audio track with no synch issues and is acceptable for this release.
I didn't expect this release to be afforded any extra features, but the release of Under the Cherry Moon contains some music videos and a theatrical trailer.
I think that a Theatrical Trailer should be mandatory on all releases, even if it's a solitary extra. This short trailer showcases the one musical highlight from the film, the now classic song Kiss.
Music videos
Girls & Boys
Mountains
Kiss
Anotherloverholenyohead
Although all these videos are under the heading ‘music videos’, only Kiss was actually released as a real music video. The rest of the videos are made up of scenes from the film and Anotherloverholenyohead consists of concert footage.
Overall, this is an interesting film, especially considering it was the follow up to Purple Rain, because the two films couldn't be more different. Prince is actually quite watchable as an actor in this film and the fact that this release actually includes a trailer and music videos should please Prince fans.
