Have to Deal With Rest of Powder Blue to See Jessica Biel's Tits

A A A Comments (1) By Vadim Rizov Wednesday, May 6 2009

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Powder Blue
Directed by Timothy Linh Bui
Speakeasy Releasing
Opens May 8

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Pre-release discussion of Powder Blue focused exclusively on the burning question of whether Jessica Biel—playing what the press kit charmingly calls an "erotic stripper"—would finally show her tits. She does, and they'll be screencapped for all eternity. To get to them, though, you have to deal with the rest of the movie, such as shot two: the much less alluring sight of Ray Liotta's nude backside, as he stands on the beach, staring into the distance. Timothy Linh Bui's second feature is one of those solipsistic, overwrought only-in-L.A. projects, in which four strangers are alone in the big city, etc. Besides Biel and Liotta, there's also Forest Whitaker and—rock-bottom—Eddie Redmayne as Qwerty Doolittle, presumably named by people with strong feelings about keyboard layout. For all its aspirations to Magnolia (the rain of frogs is swapped out for snowfall after endless radio talk of miracles), it's mostly Biel and Liotta's show; anyone who can't figure out their relationship is as dumb as the characters. I'm not even sure what Whitaker is doing here, except to shoehorn in a little "faith." In a movie full of egregiously overdramatic stupidities, the ultimate insult is to Patrick Swayze, who plays Biel's manager as an especially-poorly-preserved Bret Michaels.