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Powder Blue
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Image Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (9th July 2009). |
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The Film
 When I first heard about “Powder Blue” (2009) it was in the form of an internet news post exclaiming that this would be the first film where Jessica Biel shows off her, um… “natural talents”. Then, not long after that, the scene in question leaked online and, according to rumor, since that was one of the film’s main selling points they decided to forego a theatrical release and dump the film direct-to-video. Well, I can assure you that it wasn’t the leaking of a key scene that sent this mess direct-to-video. No, it is, quite simply, because this is a god-awful film; a sappy, incomprehensible, poorly written mish mash of cliché characters and predictable settings. Everyone remembers how terrible the (undeserving) Best Picture winner “Crash” (2004) was, right? Well, this is a film that takes the same basic plot structure and then inserts a far worse picture on top of it. Everything about this script is so contrived, over-used and pathetic that you start to gain a real hate for the film as you watch it. There were literally at least a dozen times where I rolled my eyes at the sheer absurdity of the situations and dialogue. The lives of four lonely individuals in Los Angeles intersect, with each experiencing loss, grief and redemption. Rose Johnny (Jessica Biel) is a stripper who is working to help pay for her ailing son’s medical bills. Jack Doheny (Ray Liotta) is a newly-released convict with a time limit on his life. Charlie (Forest Whitaker) is a widower having a hard time dealing with the loss of his family. Qwerty Doolittle (Eddie Redmayne) is an awkward mortician who falls in love with Rose. All of their incredibly original (note that was sarcasm) tales will eventually come together and they will all find themselves getting a new look at life. I don’t even know where to begin in discussing the problems, but I can give the film some credit in the acting department. They’ve managed to assemble a remarkably solid cast of name actors. Jessica Biel is more or less the film’s lead, which is too bad because I don’t think I ever realized how bad of an actress she is. She overacts almost every scene she’s in, making her character of the “stripper with a heart of gold” even more ridiculous. The much-talked about scene of her topless striptease, the only reason why most people will even watch the film, is almost grotesque due to her splashing her body with hot candle wax in the least sexy way possible. Ray Liotta turns in a good performance as Jack Doherty, the ex-convict with a terminal disease. Liotta hasn’t been doing much high profile work lately, not that this exactly is, but he does a good job in this role. I’m not used to seeing him in many films where he isn’t playing a total hardass who busts people up for 90 minutes, so this warm turn is a welcomed change, as it shows he has a softer side. Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker, while providing solid work as usual, plays such a ridiculous character that it was one of the film’s many low points. I suppose a man who loses his wife and kids would be incredibly grief-stricken and mentally unstable, but walking around asking Mexican transvestites to shoot you for $50,000 seems a little out of character for just about anyone. Seriously, if you really want to die that badly then just shoot yourself, regardless of your belief system. I wish he had done it just to spare me the task of watching him in this film. Eddie Redmayne looks like a cross between Elijah Wood and Cillian Murphy, except he lacks any of the talent either of those two possesses. He has this quality that made me irritated anytime he was on screen. I can’t even pinpoint exactly why, I just really disliked his character. Maybe it’s because he is the least interesting of the four leads, or that I was already mentally checked out of the film by the time his story gets rolling, but he didn’t do much for me. The man here, by far, is Patrick Swayze. He plays the strip club owner, Velvet Larry. Yes, Velvet Larry. He has long blonde hair, a dark soul patch and wears his shirts open. He has sex with anything that moves in his club. Other than his role on the A&E series “The Beast” (2009), this was his last role to date. I hope he gets better and back in front of the camera, but we all know he isn’t doing so hot right now, which is why seeing him having so much fun with this role is the film’s highlight. Hell, even though he had cancer while shooting this you’d never know it as the guy looks to be in incredible shape. It will be a sad day indeed when he’s no longer with us. I’m not sure what director Timothy Linh Bui was hoping to accomplish with this film. There’s nothing here that stands out as being fresh, original, creative or noteworthy. Well, I suppose it’s noteworthy that this film is another generic cinematic vehicle riddled with clichés and cardboard characters, but it certainly isn’t worth wasting your time watching. Everything that is happening or is going to happen occurs with such obvious foreshadowing that most keen viewers can probably guess the film’s outcome well before it comes. I think it’s a good thing this never got a theatrical release, because it would have been a major bomb.
Video
The film’s 2.40:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer looks decent, but the overuse of blue hues and relatively heavy film grain keep it from looking great. I’m all for maintaining the integrity of film, and not scrubbing away grain with DNR, but I found the grain here to be a little distracting. Even though the image is obviously high definition, it looks sickly at times and isn’t consistently attractive. Odd, since some scenes look pretty damn good. It’s a mixed bag, to say the least.
Audio
At least the audio is fairly solid. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track mixed at 48kHz/16-bit sounds very good, with surrounds getting some good work, especially during the strip club scenes. Dialogue is pronounced, clear, loud and crisp. I did detect some minor hiss during some early dialogue scenes, but it wasn’t anything too distracting and it doesn’t appear again. There's also an English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track and subtitles in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
“Powder Blue” gets some better features than the film deserves, including an audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurette, still gallery and the film’s theatrical trailer. The audio commentary with director Timothy Linh Bui and producer Tracee Stanley is mostly standard fare. The duo discuss the process of casting the film, how “perfect everyone was for their respective roles”, shooting locations and what they wanted the film to say. Both come across as subdued and not too enthusiastic, making this a dry track not worth listening to. “Shooting Blue: The Making of Powder Blue” is a featurette which runs for 17 minutes and 3 seconds. Director Timothy Linh Bui talks about what drew him to this project and the themes that run throughout the film. They also touch upon casting the right actors for the film, and those actors discuss their characters and what appealed to them about their role. The still gallery contains 20 images. The film’s theatrical trailer is included, running for 1 minute and 55 seconds.
Overall
Bad film, bad video, decent audio and boring extras… I’m sure you can guess my recommendation isn’t all that strong. Still, if you’re a Jessica Biel fanboy who hasn’t managed to see her infamous striptease, then maybe you might want to rent this; just prepare to be disappointed.
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