Powder Blue poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker, Jessica Biel, Patrick Swayze, Kris Kristofferson ... see more see more... , Eddie Redmayne , Lisa Kudrow

Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker, and Jessica Biel topline this ensemble drama regarding intersecting lives on Christmas Eve from writer/director Timothy Linh Bui (Green Dragon). Liotta plays an ex-convict... read more read more... who tracks down his estranged daughter (Biel) after serving a 25-year jail sentence. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Flixster Users

43% liked it

6,964 ratings

Critics

25% liked it

8 critics

R, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Timothy Linh Bui

Release Date: May 8, 2009

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: May 26, 2009

Get It:

Stats: 588 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Powder Blue Jessica Biel Kris Kristofferson Powder Blue Powder Blue Powder Blue Powder Blue Powder Blue Powder Blue
Upload a Photo | View All Powder Blue Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (588)

  • fb733768972
    January 9, 2012
    fb733768972
    "Powder Blue" is the type of movie that everyone would love to hate! Personally, I think it is one of the more overshadowed films that were released in 2009. With many big name B-List actors involved, they really gave it their all to make this film as much as it is. It follows tw... read moreo separate plot lines that never connect, so I felt myself scratching my head sometimes, but the dark feel of strip clubs truly adds to the mood of suicide and broken romance. However, I must hand it to Eddie Redmayne, whose performance really had me engaging in the events of the film. There are many scenes that will have you rolling your eyes, due to the over dramatic attempts, but overall, it's a very low-budget stylistic film that will have you feeling every emotions the characters are feeling, and you will wish that death is always as peaceful as it is in this film. "Powder Blue" is a very solid drama!
  • Deano78
    January 22, 2011
    Deano78
    One of those multi-layered, character films, whose lives overlap in one way or another. It has a fine cast, including Patrick Swayze's last role along side Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker. However it will be more well known for the film where Jessica Biel plays the part of an "exotic... read more dancer" and strips off. It's main theme is one of loneliness, despair and seeking companionship. It's ok but some story lines are weaker than others and the ending seems a little rushed. Overall ok for a one time watch.
  • Redlats
    October 19, 2010
    Redlats
    I like interconnected movies. Powder Blue is just such a movie where the lives of a stripper, an ex-convict, an ex-priest and a mortician come together just before Christmas. OK, so its a little strange, but it has hope.

    Three things, I had no idea Patrick Swayze was in it unt... read moreil I saw the credits. It was his last movie, and not a typical role. Second, we see a lot of Jessica Biel skin - that is not so bad. Third, it snows blue snow in LA on Christmas. That is just weird. The epilogue - I saw this movie twice - six months apart, and liked it a lot more the second viewing than the first.
  • sononothing
    September 18, 2010
    sononothing
    Powder Blue is one of those films that takes a group of separate people, tell their story, and then tie it all together in the end. It all started with Magnolia and in the last decade plus everyone wants to do it. The thing about Powder Blue is that it tries to be one of those fi... read morelms, but the structure is haphazard at best. The core character in the film is Rose Johnny (Jessica Biel), your typical stripper with a drug problem who also happens to have a dying son in the hospital. Next we have Jack (Ray Liotta), a guy that just go out of the clink, picks up a briefcase full of bills, and goes out to right the wrongs that have happened in his life. Attach to that Qwerty (Eddie Redmayne) the son of a dead mortician who is drowning in bills. Finally we get to Charlie (Forrest Whittaker) who is driving around seedy areas of town carrying fifty grand for the one person that will shoot him in the heart.



    It's a fine cast. That's not really the problem. It's just that we've seen it all before. The stripper trying to save her kid. The father that regrets a life of not being there. The main core of the film is standard film fodder, leaving the morticians story, which isn't much of a story at all other than finally serving its purpose in the third act of the film. This brings us to Charlie's saga that is pasted to the rest of the film near the beginning and then refusing to intersect again. It's an interesting story, but what it has to do with the rest of the film is a mystery to me. It would have made a fine separate film instead of being an added attraction to the club standard that the rest of the film appears to be.



    This is a basic, paint by numbers film that doesn't really do anything above and beyond the norm. There is a very creepy Patrick Swayze in this that blows the mind in his filth and vulgarity that could interest some. Otherwise this is a film that tries to be more than what it is and fails at it.
  • puffchunk
    January 12, 2010
    puffchunk
    Way better than I expected. At first it seemed like another "real life sucks" movie, which I enjoy, but it ended very hopeful and nice for a change. Not sure why the snow was blue, but I think more snow should be blue. And more snow should feature frozen Ray Liottas.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    October 27, 2009
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    Pretty good movie I gotta say. Great Acting from Jessica Biel and I think this was Patrick Swayze's last movie so it was glad to see him even though his role was less than his usual style.

    Angelenos meet on Christmas Eve through chance, tragedy and divine intervention. Velvet ... read moreLarry is the sleazy owner of the strip club where Rose Johnny dances. Qwerty Doolittle is a mortician who falls in love with her. Randall is the head of a corporate crime organization who tries to convince a former employee not to seek vengeance on his former co-workers. Charlie is a suicidal ex-priest. Lexus is a transsexual prostitute who shares an unexpected bond with the priest.
  • movieguru12
    August 3, 2009
    movieguru12
    One of the worst movies ever. I don't know why i left it on. The only actors performances I enjoyed were that of Lisa Kudrow & Forest Whitaker. Don't watch this movie!!!!!
  • superclerk25
    July 15, 2009
    superclerk25
    I'm a sucker for Forest Whitaker. I checked out the movie because of this and was a little disappointed when all was said and done.
    We follow a few people around the city of LA as Christmas day comes near. I expected the folks to be down on their luck and they were. I thought ... read morethings would get better for them and for the most part they did. Sort of. Not as good as I would have liked though.
    It seems to me that there was only one story worth following in the movie and it did take up most of the time. When we did pop back to the other story I found myself going "oh yeah". I kept forgetting that the other story was going on.
    A couple good performances but on the most part a depressing and dull movie.
  • allan913
    June 27, 2009
    allan913
    A powerfully intense and emotionally enduring movie. A dark, compelling, beautifully depressing and truly unforgettable film that shines with originality and brilliance. A damn near perfect film thats written terifficly and superbly crafted. A deeply moving and heart-wrenching ch... read morearacter piece thats fuelled by an astonishing cast of amasing actors that all do an exceptional and wonderful job with their performances. Forest Whitaker is extroadinary, his best performance since The Last King Of Scottland. Jessica Biel gives an excellent and surprisingly satisfying performance. She not only shows she is a gorgious woman but shows here that she is pure leading lady material. Ray Liotta is incrediable, always knowing how to deliver a powerful and fearless performance.
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    June 17, 2009
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "Every life has a breaking point"

    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.

    REVIEW
    ... read moreenter>
    Four desperate people drift together over Christmas. One a stripper with a little boy in a coma, another is an ex-con who looks for salvation, a mortuary worker faces foreclosure on his business and an ex-priest looks for someone to do a job for him. Well made and very well acted tale has plot lines that are so over done that they border on silly. Talk about stacking the deck, these people have enough going on for five years of soap operas. The cast almost sells the (overly) heartfelt emotion, but its just too much. How much of this would really happen to four people over a couple of days? My interest began to wander about a half an hour in because I felt that the film was manipulating things for no really good reason. I understand why the cast was drawn to the material since it allows them to dig in and chow down on the scenery. Its not a bad movie, its just an over done one.

View All Powder Blue Reviews

Critic Reviews

Melissa Anderson
May 12, 2009
Melissa Anderson, Variety

Another Los Angeles-set multistrand drama "Crash"-es and burns. Full Review

Vadim Rizov
May 5, 2009
Vadim Rizov, Village Voice

A movie full of egregiously overdramatic stupidities. Full Review

Andrew L. Urban
November 28, 2009
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile

Patrick Swayze's final feature film role as Wild Velvet strip club boss Velvet Larry is a flamboyant extravaganza Full Review

Kam Williams
June 8, 2009
Kam Williams, Sly Fox

A serendipitous erotic thriller reminiscent of Crash in the way that lots of Angelenos' lives intersect serendipitously, except that here the characters have a seedy strip club in common instead of ca... Full Review

Peter Sobczynski
May 14, 2009
Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic.com

They seem to be real and they are certainly spectacular--too bad that one can't say the same for the film featuring them. Full Review

Jason McKiernan
May 12, 2009
Jason McKiernan, Filmcritic.com

an embarrassing display of directorial exploitation and a waste of acting goodwill. Full Review

Erik Childress
May 7, 2009
Erik Childress, eFilmCritic.com

Few will remember Powder Blue as a desperate copy job of Paul Thomas Anderson's brilliant Magnolia but rather as the film where Jessica Biel finally took it all off. Full Review

Geoff Berkshire
May 7, 2009
Geoff Berkshire, Metromix.com

It's not likely [Biel] is comfortable with her nude scenes (which are neither lengthy nor discreet) being used as a selling point, but Bui fails to provide much else worth discussing. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Babel
    Babel (50%)
  • Even Money
    Even Money (100%)
  • Go
    Go (100%)
  • Love Actually
    Love Actually (100%)

More Movies like Powder Blue

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Powder Blue : Watch Free on TV

Powder Blue Trivia

  • What article of "Modern Time" can be seen in the shoe shopping scene in the movie Marie Antoinette? (This is a BLOOPER overlooked by the editors.)  Answer »
  • Patrick Swayze is in the 2009 film 'Powder Blue'.  Answer »
More Powder Blue Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Powder Blue. Want to create one?

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All Powder Blue Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add Powder Blue to favorites

Recent News

Submit a Story |

View Powder Blue News

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?