Powder Blue (2009)

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.

Director:

Timothy Linh Bui

Writers:

Timothy Linh Bui (story), Timothy Linh Bui,

Stars:

Jessica Biel, Eddie Redmayne, Forest Whitaker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Jeffrey Adam Baker)
Navid Negahban	...	Doctor Brooks
Ravi Patel	...	Sanjay
Billy Wirth	...	David
Don Swayze	...	Bouncer

Storyline

Los Angelenos meet on Christmas Eve through chance, tragedy, and divine intervention. Velvet Larry is the sleazy owner of the strip club where the glamorous but struggling single mother Rose Johnny dances. Qwerty Doolittle is a shy young mortician who falls in love with her. Randall is the head of a corporate crime organization who tries to convince a former employee just released from prison not to seek vengeance on his former co-workers. Charlie is a suicidally depressed ex-priest. Lexus is a lonely transsexual prostitute who shares an unexpected bond with the former priest.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas eve | mortician | ex priest | strip club | prostitute | 

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Taglines:

Hope is found in the darkest places

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 2009 (Kazakhstan)

Also Known As:

Esperanzas cruzadas

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blue Snow Productions, Eleven Eleven Films, Grosvenor Park Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 115 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Forest Whitaker is the only one of the four main characters to not have blue eyes. He is also the only one to never enter the strip club where Rose-Johnny works.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Jack Doheny: I got you two tickets to go to anywhere in the world.

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Connections

References Annie Hall (1977)

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Soundtracks

"Danzo Bayamo"
Written by Manuel Barreras
Performed by Manuel Barreras
Courtesy of Extreme Music
Under license from Extreme Music (ASCAP)

User Reviews

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.