Director: Timothy Linh Bui. Starring: Jessica Biel, Forest Whitaker, Eddie Redmayne, Ray Liotta, Lisa Kudrow, Patrick Swayze, Kris Kristofferson. Drama
SYNOPSIS: THE LIVES OF FOUR PEOPLE, ALL BATTLING SOME FORM OF LONLIENESS, INTERSECT DURING THE CHRISTMANS SEASON IN LOS ANGELES.
I can just cut to the chase on this one. Powder Blue is a very good film. The setup of the film will be familiar to anyone who has seen Crash or the Ripple Effect. An ensemble cast, multiple stories that intersect into one overall theme. Like the two flicks I just mentioned, this is extremely well acted, well directed, and the story is compelling.
Look, I'm one who believes real life is always more compelling than fiction, largely because it is real life. A single mother offering everything she can to care for her child, a man hurting unspeakably for the loss of his soul mate, a man trying to connect with his adult child who does not know him, a recently divorced woman looking for companionship in the only place readily available to her ...how could these stories not be compelling?
What's more, when the flick telling these stories has acting this good, you've got a wonderful movie. I know that, sometimes, those of us who love movies just want to veg out in front of the TV or big screen, not think too hard about anything, not worry about realism, and just be entertained for a couple of hours, not touched.
I can understand that, been there many times myself, expect to be there again. But, that isn't where I am all of the time and, even if I wanted to be, Powder Blue won't let you rest comfortably in non-thinking bliss.
The movie starts with a foreshadowing scene involving Ray Liotta (Good Fellas, Unlawful Entry) , a just released convict who is looking to fill in the one huge blank in his life after spending the previous 25 years in prison.
In short order, we meet an exotic dancer (Jessica Biel) who is focused soley on her son to the exclusion of almost everything and everyone else in her life; a former priest (Forest Whitaker, The Ripple Effect, The Last King of Scotland) who is cruising the streets of L.A., seemingly obsessed with the dregs of society and looking to ease enormous personal pain, a mortician with a big heart who is down on his luck financially (Eddie Redmayne) as well as a friendly waitress who is looking for love in her place of business . (Lisa Kudrow, Analyze This)
As good ensemble pieces do, Powder Blue is able to interweave these seemingly unrelated stories into one overall narrative, and keep us interested while it does so. Of course, the way it accomplishes this is by, first, being an interesting story and then by the good performances of the actors. Personally, I think Liotta and Redmayne stand out here with the way they bring their characters to life. That is not to shortchange Biel, who is wonderful and empathetic, or the wonderfully talented Whitaker or Kudrow, doing very well in the first non-comedic role I've seen her in.
As if the good work of the main characters is not enough, we also have a couple of small roles that are performed by a couple of real heavyweights, Patrick Swayze (Road House, Ghost) in an almost unbeleivable-for him-role as Biel's scumbag boss and Kris Kristofferson in a scene as Liotta's erstwhile friend and present benefactor.
There is a slight twist to the ending, but nothing you won't see coming, especially since this film is done in such a way as we the viewers know what is going when the characters don't, but the point of this film, in my opinion, is not to astound you with a twist, its to make you feel, relate, and empathize with the characters.
And it does that very well. If you like realistic stories and realistic characters, you need to pick this one up when you have the chance.
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