Powder Blue (2009)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Timothy Linh Bui

Writers:

Timothy Linh Bui (story)
Timothy Linh Bui (writer)

Release Date:

24 September 2009 (Russia)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Every life has a breaking point

Plot:

Four Los Angelenos -- a mortician, an ex-con, a suicidal ex-priest, and a stripper -- are brought together on Christmas Eve by a mixture of circumstances.

Plot Keywords:

Mortician | Christmas Eve | Ex Priest | Transsexual | Strip Club

Cast

Jessica Biel	...	Rose Johnny
Eddie Redmayne	...	Qwerty Doolittle
Forest Whitaker	...	Charlie
Ray Liotta	...	Jack Doheny
Lisa Kudrow	...	Sally
Patrick Swayze	...	Velvet Larry
Kris Kristofferson	...	Randall
Alejandro Romero	...	Lexus
Sanaa Lathan	...	Diana
Chandler Canterbury	...	Billy
Jeffery A. Baker	...	Slim (as Jeffery Adam Baker)
Navid Negahban	...	Dr. Brooks
Ravi Patel	...	Sanjay
Billy Wirth	...	David
Don Swayze	...	Bouncer

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use.

Runtime:

106 min | Germany:115 min (European Film Market)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:M18 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Blue Snow Productions

Trivia:

According to director Timothy Linh Bui, he cast Ray Liotta after meeting him in an Italian restaurant by pure coincidence. Even stranger was that Liotta was the only customer when Bui walked in.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning the movie Ray Liotta is standing nude facing the ocean. A moment later, after entering the water, bathing trunks can be seen below the water line.

Quotes:

Rose Johnny: You're not from around here are you?
Jack Doheny: No, just passing through.
Rose Johnny: Yeah I thought so. You're too nice.

Movie Connections:

References Annie Hall (1977)

Soundtrack:

Amor Porteno

Decent, if not underwhelming

Allow me to get one thing out of the way right now: if you are a straight male (or gay woman) between the ages of 18-50 you might as well consider this movie required viewing simply because of Jessica Biel's topless scenes. To be honest it's not the greatest thing since sliced bread and it's not really in a sexualized context, but just to say you saw it should be enough. A little juvenile? Sure...but there it is. I'm kidding of course (kind of) but really...not bad.

Basically what you have here feels kind of like a lame rip off of Crash. A lot of stories happening in the same time line that feel like they should intersect a lot more than they do. Without that intersection it feels like a lot of little pieces rather than a whole. I can't help but feel like some of these actors were slumming it, particularly Ray Liotta. Has there been a movie since Field Of Dreams where he didn't play either a dirt bag or a stand up guy with a shady past? Talk about typecasting. There also seems to be a waste of perfectly good Lisa Kudrow in the film. I guess I don't understand casting her in the movie at all for such a small part when I'm sure they could've found someone just as good for a lot less money.

One small technical annoyance...the film has a pronounced grain to it that I assume is supposed to give it a gritty feel. The problem is that the subject matter isn't as gritty as the production values, so it feels a bit over done. Aside from that it's not a bad movie, but not a good movie either. I would have liked it a lot more if the writers had tried to tie the stories together more. As I said before, the way it is feels more like a collection of pieces more than a whole film. I wouldn't pass it by, but I certainly wouldn't tell everyone I know to check it out. It is what it is...pretty mediocre.