14 DAY TRIAL // “Powder Blue,” the heart-wrenching story of an exotic dancer with a heart, as it’s been described in the media, has just received the fatal blow of being labeled by movie critics not only an utter waste of time, but also a painful one while we’re at it. Starring Jessica Biel, Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker, Eddie Redmayne, Lisa Kudrow and even Patrick Swayze, the flick seemed to have found the recipe for success, but that was before critics actually got to see it.
“‘Powder Blue’ is one of the most depressingly bad movies ever made. Every decision – from the screenplay to the acting to the visual palette – is a cynical calculation based on an uncomfortable amalgam of several other much better movies. The characters are manipulated ciphers, their stories are emotional copycats, and the film is an ugly, wretched bit of sanctimony. Of course the film purports to be about finding hope in the unlikeliest places, but I found absolutely none, except when the credits started rolling.” reads a review of the film on Contact Music.
Director and writer Timothy Linh Bui seems to have tried with all his might to make the story work, and even borrowed the best from all the great directors, in the hope that he could come up with something that would sell, the review further says. Sadly, this is not the case, and “Powder Blue” turned out so bad that it’s actually painful to watch, explains the reviewer in question. Unfortunately for the stars who have invested time and effort in the production, but also for the rest of the crew, this reviewer is not alone in thinking this way.
“The film’s heavy-handedness culminates in a miraculous L.A. snowfall – large, granular crystals the color of the title – signifying the possibility of hope and rebirth for the damaged protags. Perhaps the greater miracle is the level of conviction most of the talented thesps bring to the overwrought script, though Biel often overacts even more than her role requires. Bui’s trumpeting of the power of love in the city of lonely hearts manages to be both ear-splittingly loud and tone-deaf at the same time. Production values, particularly lenser Jonathan Sela’s color palette of nightmarish reds and blues and blinding whites, simply enforce the pic’s borderline hysteria.” Variety writes in an equally scathing piece on “Powder Blue.”
As we reported earlier, the film, which main star Jessica Biel started promoting a while back, was likely to go straight to DVD, which prompted many to speculate that it was so because of its poor quality. That, and the fact that it was not screened for the media strengthened this possibility, which was confirmed by critics who managed to last throughout its 106 minutes of runtime.