"Purple Violets" Review

"Purple Violets" is a film most people probably haven't heard of. Most likely, one or two (maybe three) of my readers are aware of the film, but since it was never released in theatres - I doubt many people have heard of it. The film, written and directed by Edward Burns, was originally distributed exclusively through iTunes, and later released on DVD. I came across the film via NetFlix - as it thought it was a film I would be interested in.

Interestingly enough, it turns out that this film has hit me at a particularly interesting point in my life. And I really enjoyed it.

The film basically revolves around Patti (Selma Blair). She's a "writer" and she's been married for seven years. And hasn't written a book in ten years, instead, she's become a real estate agent, selling up-scale apartments. Her best friend is Kate (Debra Messing) and one night they go out for Kate's 33rd Birthday, and end up at the same restaurant as Brian and Michael (Patrick Wilson and Edward Burns). It turns out that 12 years ago, these four people were best friends and two couples. Both relationships ended, for various reasons. Kate and Michael's relationship ended over a bad night and a misunderstanding about whether or not Michael cheated on her.


After the chance meeting in the restaurant, and Patti's failing marriage at home, she goes to one of Brian's book signings and then end up going to dinner to catch up. This begins a spark and sets things into motion for Patti and Brian to re-examine their relationship and what went wrong. During this time, Michael does everything in his power to get Patti to convince Kate to talk to him, so that he can get some closure over their bad break-up. It seems Michael continues to carry a torch - 12 years later - and hates the fact that Kate hates him over something that he didn't do.


I thought it was a wonderful examination of relationships (although much like Mamet's work, these characters really feel like they could easily cross over into "The Brothers McMullen" or "Sidewalks of New York" without a problem). And I personally could relate to both relationships that exsist in the film. On one hand, there's the old flame - right in my face - who I want to have sparks with, but there are obstacles in the way. Then, there is the break-up that ended badly, and ended over misunderstandings and hate-filled conversations. The "Girl Who Got Away" Syndrome, and the one I would do anything to get back - despite being stone-walled and bad-mouthed. Finally, it somewhat makes the point, that sometime loves can cross the boundaries of time, and while time doesn't always heal the wounds - sometimes the later words and explainations can ease the pain of the past. Relationships are a complicated thing, and I like the way this film looks at them.

Finally, the more important underlying tone and concept to the film is inspiration. While Patti's character hasn't written a novel in ten years, Brian has been writing a successful series of crime novels, but once he attempts to write something more personal - it's horribly recieved. Brian becomes a supportive confidant to Patti, and does his best to convince her to give writing another chance, by starting with short stories. I keep this blog, because it allows me to write and vent about things in my life. I haven't written a fictional piece of work in the past couple of years. And watching this film has somewhat inspired me to attempt to figure out something to write. And this is how I plan to do it: I'm going to create a new blog, and write a chapter at a time. I haven't picked a subject, genre, or anything else yet - but once I do, I'm going to begin my first online "novel". Fictional. Narrative. An online novel. And I'm going to hope it works.

Here's the trailer for film: