Purple Hearts

When Netflix hypes a film, you just gotta watch it - Right? Everyone has been raving about this movie. I finally see what the hype was about. Purple Hearts is one of Netflix's unexpected success stories considering its relatively unknown cast and comparatively low budget. Spending 27 days on the top 10 list with total viewing hours of over 200 million, it seems to be one gamble that has paid off for the streaming giant.

Purple Hearts is a very real and very raw but beautifully crafted story. Though Cassie and Luke's love story and journey are central themes, the movie highlights many other current issues which heighten its overall poignancy.

About This Movie

Purple Hearts is a 2022 romantic musical movie written by Liz W. Garcia and Kyle Jarrow based on Tess Wakefield's novel of the same name. It was directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum and produced by Amy Baer, Elysa Koplovitz Dutton and Leslie Morgenstein. The movie cast includes Sofia Carson and Nicholas Galitzine as leads as well as Chosen Jacobs, Kendall Chapell, Linden Ashby, Scott Deckert, Anthony Ippolito, Nicholas Duvernay, Kat Cunning, Sarah Rich, John Harlan Kim, and Loren Escandon among others.

Synopsis

Cassie is a struggling songwriter/musician and waitress who has recently been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes who struggles to afford basic needs and essential medication. Luke is a marine with a turbulent past and an estranged relationship with his father who is indebted to his former drug dealer. Both meet when Cassie's childhood friend, Frankie visits her workplace with his marine buddies. Although something sparks between them, their deeply entrenched beliefs stemming from being on opposing sides of the American political divide creates instant tension.

Cassie finds out she can get free medicare as a military spouse and approaches Frankie with a marriage proposal which he turns down. Luke overhears their discussion and warns them of the consequences. Luke's former dealer Johnno threatens to harm Luke's family if he doesn't get his money. Unable to get help from his brother, Luke decides to take up Cassie's offer. Their marriage of convenience has to be a secret to avoid criminal penalties and possible court martial.

When Luke is wounded in combat and flown home, things take a different turn and both of them must decide if their contrived love has become real.

Social Relevance

This movie is much more than a love story. It highlights several life themes and social issues. Some of these include Parenting, Family; Love and Relationships; Disease and Death; Healthcare; Medicare and Medicare debts; Finance; Military service; Drugs and Addiction; Immigration; American Political and Social Divides; Music, Art and Creativity and Military and Civilian law among others

Major Takeaways

This movie has been called a humble love story but it is so much deeper than that. I was kind of disappointed when the movie came to an end as I expected more. It's difficult to believe it has a 2-hour 2 minutes run time.

As with every movie, there are highs and lows; memorable moments and scenes that make you think. These are some of my personal thoughts and takeaways from the movie:

• Political and Social Divisions: I really admired Cassie's fiery spirit. She is a fierce advocate of her beliefs but as can be seen from the conflicts she has with Luke and Armando, sometimes these cause entrenched divides and further conflicts. While no one wants their rights trampled upon, we still need to hear each other out and have points of understanding and mutual cooperation
• Medicare and Medical Insurance: I was saddened by the medicare issues that caused Cassie to go to such lengths. Life is tough already and disease or complex medical conditions add extra strain to life's pressures. Imagine if someone like Cassie had student debts as well.
• Jobs & Work vs Passion & Creativity: The movie put a very real spin on issues concerning creativity, art and work. When Cassie told Luke she would go after her dream and pursue her creativity any day, I felt that. However, as we see depicted in the movie, this is not easy. This is exactly what plays out in real life. We have talents, gifts, dreams, ambitions and so on. But, oftentimes, life is everything but what we dream or expect it to be. Nevertheless, with tenacity, grit and determination, we will be able to achieve (and probably even surpass) our dreams
• Military Service: This movie elevates the Military service of heroes and servicemen and women in defence of their country. It also gives an understanding of the devastation felt by troops who have trained together and fought together when they lose any of their own. This is in addition to the anguish and grief felt by families who lose children in their prime
• Drugs and Addiction: Luke spiralled and took to drugs to deal with his mum's death but this left him heavily indebted to very dangerous people. Thankfully, he had dealt with his habit but did you notice that Johnno was ready to sell him more 'product' if he had been willing. He was threatening him and demanding for his money because he knew he would not be able to make more money off of his addiction. This shows how dealers keep addicts hopelessly in debt
• Parenting and Tough Love: Luke's father might have come across as strict and unyielding but his enforcement of tough love helped Luke pick up the pieces of his life. In spite of their estranged relationship, Jacob was proud and protective of his son and was there for him

Summary and Conclusions

This movie is very much a treatise on American life highlighting real and current issues while weaving in the beautiful love story and journey of two very different people. It's poignant depiction of the power of love and service is powerful and moving.

One other awesome thing about this movie is its soundtrack. Each song is a banger. The fact that Sofia Carson is not just an actress but a musician and performer brought some star power to the movie. Sofia is credited with co-writing some of the songs on the movie soundtrack.

I mentioned earlier that I felt the movie was too short and expected more. However, I also believe the producers, directors and cast did an awesome job of packing in so much power and meaning into 2 hours and 2 minutes.

Purple Hearts is a winner!!!