Purple Hearts (2022)

Sometimes, when you need a good cry or a big laugh, a movie can do that so much better than anything else.

I don’t watch TV, not much of anything else either, actually. But sometimes, on occasion, I find myself scrolling through Netflix to find something to watch. I then watch quite a bit, and then I’m fine for the rest of the year (but that is another thing in its entirety). I clicked this because I had it on the list, and I think Nicholas Galitzine is a great actor, I like other works of his. So off I went, and I ended up crying so exactly what I wanted.

The film in short
Cassie Salazar and Luke Morrow couldn’t be more different. Sharp-witted Cassie works nights at a bar in Oceanside, CA, to make ends meet while pursuing her dream of becoming a singer/songwriter. Luke is a Marine trainee about to ship out for duty, who finds comfort in the unswerving discipline of service. A chance encounter at Cassie’s bar changes the course of both their lives. Cassie is drowning in medical bills after being diagnosed with diabetes.
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The trailer

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My Thoughts
I wanted some feel-good vibes, and this ticked those boxes. First things first, I am not American, and I know very little about American Military culture. The frequent lines about the main character being a ‘snowflake’ were thus deeply off-putting. Mainly because I didn’t really understand where it came from. It was a bit strange and also insulting to her.

Yes, she made a bit of a faux pas getting into a loud argument in a restaurant, but other than that, she actually was not that outspoken about her views in any way. Her views on immigration were clearly based on her personal life, as her mother had immigrated to America. I don’t think it is odd for her to have such views and to be very clear about them, as if her friends disagree with her views; this can have very serious consequences in her personal life. It’s also good for her to know who would be an unsafe person to have around her family. To me is thus not ‘snowflake’ behaviour to take things seriously in that way. It felt a bit like the writers wanted to be one with the kids, but not in a good way

Overall, I thought it was fun. It was an interesting premise, and I did like how not everything went according to plan. I found the way the dad got involved very realistic, and I liked that. The relationship between the two characters also grew organically, and I thought that was great. The plotline of the drug dealer was a bit out there for me, but it might be accurate to real life.

The ending was a bit confusing in the sense that I thought that being dishonourably dismissed from the military is a really big deal. But it didn’t seem that way in the movie, which made me wonder if I got that whole plot line wrong. Then again, his father has a mechanic shop, so it is not as if he cannot get a job, but still. I also cannot imagine that they wouldn’t question the girlfriend and just dismiss all the pending charges so easily, but again, what do I know? 

I adored Cassie, I loved how she went on with things despite her health, something I deeply relate to. I loved how she was able to make her dreams come true and how she learned to open her heart to the people around her. I enjoyed the integration of her music, and it felt very organic within the story.

I thought the ending was good. Their relationship was very fun and did grow organically. I did enjoy the scene where they started living together, the best, I thought it was great fun. The pacing was good, and I feel this is one of those films you can easily watch if you just want a nice romantic movie without a ton of distracting plot.

The movie felt romantic while integrating the quite heavy topics of health and war. As I said, I am not American, so I took those aspects for what they were, it might either be very accurate and thus good. Or it might not be accurate, and thus a bit annoying in that sense. But for me, this wasn’t an issue. It was a solid film, and I think I might even re-watch it for fun. 

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