# Powder Blue (film)
**Powder Blue** is a 2009 American drama film directed, written, and produced by Timothy Linh Bui, an American filmmaker of Vietnamese descent, about four lonely Los Angeles residents whose lives intersect on [Christmas Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/christmas-eve): a suicidal former priest, a stripper, a newly released ex-convict, and a shy mortician.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032819/) • [1](https://tuoitre.vn/hai-du-an-quoc-te-cua-hai-dao-dien-viet-kieu-216020.htm) It stars [Jessica Biel](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-biel), Eddie Redmayne, Forest Whitaker, and [Ray Liotta](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-liotta), with Patrick Swayze, Lisa Kudrow, and Kris Kristofferson in supporting roles.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032819/fullcredits/) Released in a limited theatrical run in May 2009, the film earned poor reviews and was released directly to DVD in most countries.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue) • [8](https://dubbningshemsidan.se/recensioner/Powder_Blue/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Timothy Linh Bui, who wrote the screenplay and developed the story with Stephane Gauger; Bui also produced[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032819/fullcredits/) • [1](https://tuoitre.vn/hai-du-an-quoc-te-cua-hai-dao-dien-viet-kieu-216020.htm) |
| Principal cast | Jessica Biel (Rose-Johnny), Eddie Redmayne (Qwerty Doolittle), Forest Whitaker (Charlie), Ray Liotta (Jack Doheny), Patrick Swayze (Velvet Larry)[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032819/fullcredits/) |
| Release | Limited theatrical release May 8, 2009; rated R; 106 minutes[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue) • [12](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/powder-blue) |
| Reception | 25% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (8 reviews) and 40% from audiences; 6.2/10 on IMDb from about 16,000 votes[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032819/) |
| Box office | $17,835 in reported revenue[11](https://cinegraph.org/movies/powder-blue-2009) |
| Notable distinction | Patrick Swayze's final feature film role[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film follows four strangers in Los Angeles in the days before Christmas. Rose-Johnny (Jessica Biel) is a stripper at a club run by Velvet Larry ([Patrick Swayze](https://www.edgepedia.org/patrick-swayze)), working to pay for treatment for her comatose son. Jack Doheny (Ray Liotta) is a terminally ill ex-convict who, after serving 25 years in prison, searches for the daughter he has never known, a daughter who turns out to be Rose-Johnny herself. Charlie ([Forest Whitaker](https://www.edgepedia.org/forest-whitaker)) is a former priest who left the church to marry, lost his wife in a car crash, and now seeks a stranger who will help him end his life. Qwerty Doolittle ([Eddie Redmayne](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddie-redmayne)) is a pathologically shy mortician who finds Rose-Johnny's lost dog and begins a tentative romance with her.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue) • [15](https://sleightoffilm.com/powder-blue/) • [9](https://www.avclub.com/powder-blue-1798206282)
The four storylines circle the strip club where Rose-Johnny works, and the film draws on the ensemble structure of films such as *Crash* and *Magnolia*, in which the separate lives of city dwellers cross by chance.[14](https://www.soundandvision.com/content/ipowder-bluei151image-entertainment-blu-ray) • [13](https://www.filmstarts.de/kritiken/128849/kritik.html)
## Production
**Origins.** Bui developed the screenplay from a short story by Stephane Gauger, a Vietnamese American cinematographer, screenwriter, and director known for the independent film *Owl and the Sparrow* (2005). Vietnamese press coverage at the time noted that *Powder Blue* carried the flavor of Gauger's story of strangers crossing paths, transposed to the United States.[1](https://tuoitre.vn/hai-du-an-quoc-te-cua-hai-dao-dien-viet-kieu-216020.htm)
**Casting and shoot.** [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began in the first week of August 2007 in Los Angeles. The project attracted a largely American cast of well-known actors: Forest Whitaker, who had won the [Academy Award for Best Actor](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-actor) in 2007 for *The Last King of Scotland*, Patrick Swayze, Jessica Biel, Ray Liotta, Kris Kristofferson, and Eddie Redmayne, years before his own Oscar win in 2015.[1](https://tuoitre.vn/hai-du-an-quoc-te-cua-hai-dao-dien-viet-kieu-216020.htm) • [2](https://vtv.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/nha-lam-phim-timothy-linh-bui-hi-vong-moi-thang-mot-phim-viet-nam-tai-thi-truong-my-20150406162638791.htm) Bui produced alongside Whitaker, Ross M. Dinerstein, Tracee Stanley Newell, and Bobby Schwartz, for the production companies Grosvenor Park Productions, Blue Snow Productions, and Eleven Eleven Films.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue) The plan at the time of shooting was to finish post-production by the end of 2007 and submit the film to the [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) in early 2008.[1](https://tuoitre.vn/hai-du-an-quoc-te-cua-hai-dao-dien-viet-kieu-216020.htm)
## Release and reception
*Powder Blue* opened in a limited theatrical release on May 8, 2009, and earned $17,835 at the box office.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue) • [11](https://cinegraph.org/movies/powder-blue-2009) With few exceptions it was released directly to DVD in most countries.[8](https://dubbningshemsidan.se/recensioner/Powder_Blue/)
Critical response was largely negative. The film holds a 25% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes from eight professional reviews, against a 40% audience score.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue) On IMDb it rates 6.2 out of 10 from about 16,000 user votes.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032819/) Reviewers repeatedly compared its intersecting-strangers structure to [Paul Haggis](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-haggis)'s *[Crash](https://www.edgepedia.org/crash-2004-film)*, generally to its disadvantage. Variety's Melissa Anderson wrote that the film "Crash-es and burns," and the German site Filmstarts coined the term "Deadlink Movie" for its failure to weave its separate plot threads together.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue) • [13](https://www.filmstarts.de/kritiken/128849/kritik.html) Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club described it as stitched together from superior films, echoing *Crash* in its ensemble fatalism and *Magnolia* in its downbeat Los Angeles mood and freak climactic precipitation, and predicted a long run on late-night pay cable.[9](https://www.avclub.com/powder-blue-1798206282) Much pre-release attention had focused on Jessica Biel's stripping role, and the Blu-ray review in Sound & Vision judged that the film would be remembered more for that sequence than for anything else.[9](https://www.avclub.com/powder-blue-1798206282) • [14](https://www.soundandvision.com/content/ipowder-bluei151image-entertainment-blu-ray)
The film gained a later distinction through Patrick Swayze, who played the strip club owner Velvet Larry; critics identified it as his final feature film role.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue)
## Aftermath for the director
*Powder Blue* remained Timothy Linh Bui's last film as director for 14 years. In interviews around his 2023 vampire film *Người Mặt Trời* (*Daydreamers*), Bui explained that he treats directing as a personal undertaking and had spent the intervening years writing scripts and producing films for other directors, work that included arranging American releases for Vietnamese films such as *Saigon Yo!* and *Âm Mưu Giày Gót Nhọn*.[7](https://vietcetera.com/vn/timothy-linh-bui-nghe-chinh-cua-toi-la-ke-chuyen-hon-la-dao-dien) • [2](https://vtv.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/nha-lam-phim-timothy-linh-bui-hi-vong-moi-thang-mot-phim-viet-nam-tai-thi-truong-my-20150406162638791.htm) Bui, born in Vietnam in 1970, had earlier co-written and co-produced his brother Tony Bui's *Three Seasons* (1999) and directed *Green Dragon* (2004).[6](https://znews.vn/truan-chuyen-nha-lam-phim-viet-kieu-2-post16430.html) • [5](https://vietcetera.com/onboardy/true-blood-from-true-love-timothy-linh-bui-on-daydreamers)
## References
1. [Hai dự án quốc tế của hai đạo diễn Việt kiều, Tuổi Trẻ Online (19 August 2007)](https://tuoitre.vn/hai-du-an-quoc-te-cua-hai-dao-dien-viet-kieu-216020.htm)
2. [Nhà làm phim Timothy Linh Bùi: Hi vọng mỗi tháng một phim Việt Nam tại thị trường Mỹ, VTV.vn (6 April 2015)](https://vtv.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/nha-lam-phim-timothy-linh-bui-hi-vong-moi-thang-mot-phim-viet-nam-tai-thi-truong-my-20150406162638791.htm)
3. [Powder Blue (2009) Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032819/fullcredits/)
4. [Powder Blue (2009), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032819/)
5. [True Blood From True Love: Timothy Linh Bùi On 'Daydreamers', Vietcetera](https://vietcetera.com/onboardy/true-blood-from-true-love-timothy-linh-bui-on-daydreamers)
6. [Truân chuyên nhà làm phim Việt Kiều (2), Znews](https://znews.vn/truan-chuyen-nha-lam-phim-viet-kieu-2-post16430.html)
7. [Timothy Linh Bùi: Nghề chính của tôi là kể chuyện hơn là đạo diễn, Vietcetera](https://vietcetera.com/vn/timothy-linh-bui-nghe-chinh-cua-toi-la-ke-chuyen-hon-la-dao-dien)
8. [Recensioner: Powder Blue, Dubbningshemsidan](https://dubbningshemsidan.se/recensioner/Powder_Blue/)
9. [Powder Blue, The A.V. Club (Nathan Rabin, 27 May 2009)](https://www.avclub.com/powder-blue-1798206282)
10. [Powder Blue, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008687-powder_blue)
11. [Powder Blue (2009), Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/movies/powder-blue-2009)
12. [Powder Blue streaming: where to watch movie online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/powder-blue)
13. [Powder Blue – Die Filmstarts-Kritik, FILMSTARTS.de](https://www.filmstarts.de/kritiken/128849/kritik.html)
14. [Powder Blue – Image Entertainment (Blu-ray), Sound & Vision (16 May 2009)](https://www.soundandvision.com/content/ipowder-bluei151image-entertainment-blu-ray)
15. [Powder Blue, Sleight of Film](https://sleightoffilm.com/powder-blue/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2000s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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