Powder Blue (2008/Image Entertainment Blu-ray + DVD)

 

Picture: B-/C+     Sound: B/C+     Extras: C+     Film: C+

 

 

The mini-cycle of films trying to be Crash and not even attempting Robert Altman narrative construction continues with Timothy Linh Bui’s Powder Blue (2008, which he also co-wrote) about four lives in Los Angeles (it’s amazing how much drama that one city somehow has) are at a breaking point and will eventually cross in some unforgettable way.  How many times have you read that now-high concept in the last few years?

 

This time, the script may be uneven, but the cast is one of the better ones with Ray Liotta trying to find happiness, Forest Whittaker (who co-produced) ready to find the end of his life, Eddie Redmayne wondering what will happen to his literally dead end job & life and Jessica Biel as a mother who becomes an exotic dancer to pay for the bills when her young son is in the hospital in a comatose condition he many never recover from.

 

Illicit appeals to pity are all over the place, but even when the script falters and rings false, the performances override it.  Liotta is gritty and empathetic in interesting ways, Redmayne continues to be one of the best new actors around, Whittaker dives deep into an identifiable depression that is totally believable and Biel proves once again why she is one of the most underrated actresses around.  Also impressive is Patrick Swayze as the rotten head of a strip club and in an even more shocking development, Friends alumni Lisa Kudrow actually proves she can act when she tries!

 

Guess working with Whittaker rubbed off on her.  Hope that’s permanent.

 

No, this is not a great film, but it is a good one and when it is all over, you like the characters if not the whole film.  I had wished the film had been better and with more work, this could have been amazing, but as it is, it is still worth a look.

 

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is sadly noisier and softer throughout than one would have liked.  Not helping things is Bui and Director of Photography Jonathan Sela gut the color in what is always a dishonest visual move, underlying Bui’s inability to make the material work all the time.  The anamorphically enhanced DVD is even worse, weaker, has problematic Video Black and depth issues.

 

The DTS-HD 5.1 MA (Master Audio) lossless mix is better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 in either format by being warmer and richer, but the margin is not so overwhelming and you should not expect some remarkable soundfield.  This is still a low budget production and dialogue-based at that.  Extras on both versions include a trailer, stills, making of featurette and feature length audio commentary by Bui and Producer Tracee Stanley.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo