Author Archives: Sammie Purcell

“Hamlet” might be one of the most adapted properties of all time. When taking stock of those adaptations, the story mostly stays the same, but the focus usually changes.  It all comes down to preference – maybe you’re like Laurence Olivier, concentrating mostly on the psychology of the character and fascinated by his Oedipus complex […]

Early on in “The Drama,” Charlie (Robert Pattinson) and Emma (Zendaya) are practicing for the first dance at their wedding. They’re doing one of those old-timey, heavily choreographed routines. You know the type – the kind where you’re too busy thinking about the next step to worry about the fact that everyone is watching you […]

If there’s one thing you should know about the Fruits, it’s that they worship Marilyn Monroe like she was God herself.  This is one of the running gags in Meredith Alloway’s new film, “Forbidden Fruits,” written by Alloway and Lily Houghton and based on Houghton’s 2019 play. The Fruits – a witchy sisterhood of mall […]

There is a long, storied history to melodrama that stretches back centuries – “Wuthering Heights,” Douglas Sirk movies, you name it. The definition of melodrama necessitates exaggeration and excitement, sweeping emotions and grand gestures. But I’ve always found that melodrama works best when those emotions are rooted in something a little more grounded. In Sirk’s […]

There are moments in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!” that feel like they’re trying to get at something revelatory about the female condition. For the most part, unfortunately, the film is much like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster – haphazardly stitched together.  “The Bride!,” which is inspired by the 1935 film “Bride of Frankenstein” and, by extension, Mary […]

“Paul McCartney: Man on the Run” opens with a telling quote from the man himself.  In old footage, an interviewer asks McCartney what’s the thing he values the most? His answer is “personal peace.” That answer is immediately followed by footage of The Beatles arguing (notably, McCartney and John Lennon) during the band’s last days, […]

The beginning of Adam MacDonald’s “This Is Not a Test” is disorienting – and not in the way you expect a zombie apocalypse movie to be.  We meet our protagonist, Sloane (Olivia Holt). She’s sitting in the bathtub and reading a suicide note, and it’s pretty cut and dry where this scene is headed. She’s […]

In an early scene in “Wuthering Heights,” Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) listens as his ward, Isabella (Alison Oliver) explains, in thorough detail, the plot of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” over tea in the garden. Isabella, who has just read the play for the first time, is completely entranced by the fate of the doomed […]

Five days and two extremely tired eyes later, I’ve watched as many Sundance movies as I can, and I’m ready to talk faves.  Ahead of Sundance, I knew I wasn’t going to get to see some of the heavy hitters, like Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite,” or Aidan Zamiri’s pop star mockumentary “The Moment.” But, in […]

Right before the big plane crash that sets Sam Raimi’s new film “Send Help” into motion, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) sits alone, clacking away at a keyboard as she solves a problem with the company’s upcoming merger that none of her male colleagues (younger, dumber, and meaner than her), have the slightest idea how to […]

To anyone who has experienced grief of any kind, there’s a recognizable pattern that takes over. Sometimes, after a loss, you throw yourself into something so fully — work, hobbies, romance, whatever it may be — as a way to make sure you have no time to think about anything else, especially not the person […]

When “All That’s Left of You” begins, we’re immediately off to the races. A percussive, driving score follows two teen boys — one named Noor (Muhammad Abed Elrahman) — racing through the streets of the West Bank in 1988 during the First Intifada, or uprising. The moment is filled with glee, the boys leaping over […]

That time of year is finally here — it’s time to whittle down the list of 150 new movies I saw this year to my 20 favorites. This is the third time I’ve done this for Rough Draft, and it might be the hardest time I’ve ever had finalizing my list. That’s not necessarily because […]

There is something to be said for a good, old fashioned trashy movie. I’m not talking “guilty pleasures” (I don’t really believe in the concept, you like something or you don’t), but rather a movie unashamed of its tastelessness. A movie that’s smart in its stupidity, that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but still manages […]

The second time the girl with the falcon and the Latin tutor meet, he’s embarrassed.  The first time they met, he mistook the girl – Agnes (Jessie Buckley) – for one of the serving girls, and, in quite a forward move, kissed her before she ran off. He has since learned that she’s the eldest […]

“When I look at you, I see my whole life!” This is what a stranger says to Jay Kelly (George Clooney) on a train in Italy. The man has never met Jay, but he still feels he knows him. Jay is a movie star, and movie stars are (or, at least they used to be) […]

My last year’s review of “Wicked” began with the notion that the film would have been much better if someone didn’t make the decision to split act one and act two of the 2003 Broadway musical into two separate movies (apparently, this idea might have stemmed from Craig Mazin?).  Now that the second film, “Wicked: For […]

Before Jean-Luc Godard was a filmmaker, he was a film critic. And before that, he was a film fan.  That fandom is part of the ethos of the French New Wave, the groundbreaking cinematic movement of the 1950s and 60s. Yes, those directors rejected the strictures of traditional filmmaking. Yes, they brought new approaches to […]

Toward the beginning of “Hedda,” we find our titular heroine (Tessa Thompson) standing alone atop her vast estate wielding a pistol. Down below, Judge Roland Brack (Nicholas Pinnock) makes his way across the grass. He’s arrived early for Hedda’s party, thrown in celebration of her marriage to George Tesman (Tom Bateman).  Hedda admonishes Brack for […]

There are multiple moments in Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” where someone tells Linda (Rose Byrne) to prioritize herself.  It’s something mothers hear often. Linda’s therapist (Conan O’Brien) tells her to try and get a good night’s sleep. Her daughter’s doctor (Bronstein) warns her that before she can worry about her […]