Today’s quick review: Powder Blue. Jack Doheny (Ray Liotta), a cancer-ridden ex-convict, strikes up a paternal relationship with Rose-Johnny (Jessica Biel), a stripper working to support her terminally ill son. Meanwhile, Charlie Bishop (Forest Whitaker), a man reeling from the death of his wife, searches for a stranger who will help him commit suicide, and Qwerty Doolittle (Eddie Redmayne) struggles to keep his father’s funeral home afloat.
Powder Blue is a drama about the personal struggles of four strangers. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Jack, Rose-Johnny, Charlie, and Qwerty are pushed to their limits as their lives continue to unravel and their last-ditch efforts to fix things come up short. Powder Blue aims to be a gritty and poignant drama about loss and desperation. However, flawed storytelling keeps the movie from making full use of its talented cast.
Powder Blue has issues with its characters and its story. The characters are meant to be people who have fallen through the cracks: lonely, desperate, and fundamentally decent. But even though the challenges they face are real, the way they behave is exaggerated and artificial. The movie’s attempts at personal drama are hindered by the characters’ skewed priorities, flaws that are never addressed, and arcs that ultimately feel incomplete.
Powder Blue also has a habit of misplaying its most dramatic moments. Scenes that are supposed to be emotionally powerful instead come across as forced and even comical, making it difficult to invest too deeply in the story. Powder Blue circles around pathos but never quite finds it. The same goes for the movie’s indirect storytelling. Early scenes that are meant to pique the audience’s interest come and go without asking any important questions.
The end result is a movie with all the ingredients of an effective drama but none of the finesse. Fans of the genre who have a taste for personal crises and the quiet disappointments of life will still find Powder Blue interesting. Its subject matter comes close to what it needs to be, and the cast handles their role well. But ultimately, Powder Blue is neither emotionally satisfying nor thematically meaningful, making it a dubious pick.
For a more artful portrayal of similar life crises, check out 21 Grams. For a more intricate drama about the intersecting lives of strangers, try Crash. For a dramatic comedy with similar themes and more heart, try Tokyo Godfathers. For a more focused and emotionally impactful movie about similar struggles, try Dallas Buyers Club.
[6.3 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032819/). I give it a 5.0 for shaky storytelling and drama that misses the mark.