‘PURPLE HEARTS’ is a romantic-drama on Netflix told with many songs since the lead female character, Cassie (Sofia Carson, the lovely Latina actress in “Songbird”, “Pretty Little Liars”) is an aspiring singer-singwriter who is the lead vocalist of a band.
She has meagre income, money is tight and she can hardly make both ends meet.
She needs to have a steady of supply of insulin as she is suffering from Type 1 diabetes. She also works as a bartender in the club where she sings.
Luke (Nicholas Galitzine, Prince Charming in last year’s version of “Cinderella”) is a Marine trainee who will soon be sent to serve in Iraq.
One night, he and his Marine friends goes to the bar where Cassie works and tries to hit on her but she rejects him.
But Cassie is so happy to see an old friend, Frankie (Chosen Jacobs), who’s Luke’s bunkmate as a marine.
Since she is so hard up, Cassie asks Frankie to marry her as the wife of a marine will get many financial benefits, including medical insurance that will help her get a steady supply of insulin.
Frankie turns her down since he has his own sweetheart who he plans to marry.
Luke hears what Cassie is proposing to Frankie and tells her such a fake marriage is illegal and can put them both to prison.
But it turns out Luke himself is having financial problems of his own. He is a reformed drug addict and he owes $15,000 to his former drug dealer who is now threatening to harm his family if he doesn’t pay up.
He then proposes to Cassie for them to get married to solve their money problems.
It will be a marriage of convenience and they can get a divorce later. Meantime, they have to pretend that they are really husband and wife so that authorities won’t suspect that they just had a fake marriage.
The problem is that they are so different from each other, even their beliefs and values.
At the start, they clash frequently, but Luke tells Cassie there are better ways of handling disagreements than just constantly arguing with each other.
They exchange e-mails and video calls and Cassie get to compose a song for Luke and his fellow Marines, “Come Back Home”, that really buoys up their spirits.
The song goes viral and Cassie’s singing and songwriter career gets a big boost.
But complications occur when Luke gets injured in Iraq and has to be sent home because his leg was almost amputated.
Cassie has to take care of Luke, now wheelchair bound, in her own apartment to keep up appearances that they are really husband and wife.
They are faced with more problems and, for a while, you’d think their case is hopeless. But we all know where romantic stories like this eventually go.
What carries the film is the fact that Carson and Galitzine have pretty believable romantic chemistry.
Their moments together while conversing, bickering, making up, all make for an engaging watch.
Carson, a Latina who’s really a good singer, gives her best in both the dramatic and musical scenes.
Her songs help in giving more insight into the dynamics of their relationship.
Galitzine, a British actor, proves himself to be a decent romantic lead.
The storytelling can be quite manipulative at times to make us feel sentimental, but we don’t really mind because the lead actors make it all credible, with the help of their devoted dog, Peaches.
It appears that all the odds are stacked against them, but they really do care and love each other and that help in overcoming all the adversities they get to face.
In the end, Luke and Cassie are able to help each other to become the best version of themselves.