Prince’s “Purple Rain” returns to the big screen

If you’re mourning the loss of Prince, who died Thursday at the age of 57, you now have a chance to see the icon at the peak of his powers.

“Purple Rain,” the rock musical that helped rocket Prince to superstardom, is returning to big screens for a limited engagement, and Spokane’s AMC River Park Square location is one of 87 theaters set to show the film.

Shot in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis, the semi-autobiographical film follows a struggling musician known simply as the Kid, who finds an escape from a troubled home life in the city’s lively rock scene. The story is a standard backstage melodrama, but “Purple Rain” is really worth seeing for its electric concert sequences and for its soundtrack, which features such classics as “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “I Would Die 4 U” and the title tune.

“Purple Rain” was an unexpected smash when it was released in the summer of 1984, becoming one of the highest grossing movies of the year and garnering critical adulation (it turned up on both Gene Siskel’s and Roger Ebert’s year end top 10 lists). Its accompanying soundtrack album spawned four Top 10 hits and earned Prince an Oscar and two Grammys; Entertainment Weekly recently named it the second greatest album of all time, behind only the Beatles’ “Revolver.”

The film will screen at 1:45 p.m. and 7 p.m. from Saturday through Thursday. Advance tickets can be purchased at amctheatres.com.