Star's Two Long-Awaited Films Enter US Market
The long-awaited US release of two films in which IMTA alum Jessica Biel (LA94) stars have internet sites and fan blogs buzzing with anticipation. Both films are similar in that they have been shown first at various film festivals throughout the world, but
Easy Virtue and
Powder Blue are distinctly different in showing the wide range of Biel’s acting range.
Easy Virtue, a witty romantic comedy adapted from Noel Coward’s play, tells the story of a free-spirited, auto-racing, Jazz Age American divorcee (Biel) who travels to the South of France and marries a young Englishman (Ben Barnes) on the spur of the moment. The couple returns to England to face his privileged and batty family, including his disapproving parents, played by Colin Firth
and
Kristin Scott Thomas.
The independent film—as well as Biel’s performance—has garnered rave reviews from critics and audiences on its film festival tour. One reviewer said, “It’s the most enjoyable film I’ve seen in the last six months.” Australia’s top film critics wrote, "The surprise of the film is how well Jessica Biel matches her stalwart British co-stars. She’s beautiful and, more importantly, she’s talented. She is delicious. It’s potentially a creaky old yarn but [director] Elliott, working with screenwriter Sheridan Jobbins, has imbued the film with an energy and a beauty that is beguiling."
Other reviews have also been glowing for the film and its stars. “Crafty direction, snappy dialogue and a delightful cast take this comedy of manners far beyond the confines of the typical romantic comedy. What results is a film that is as clever and hilarious as it is artfully crafted.” The San Francisco International Film Festival wrote that “It’s Jessica Biel, however, who delivers the truly astonishing performance, her bohemian beauty polished by a spirited, razor-sharp wit."
Another reason Biel is drawing praise for
Easy Virtue is that she makes her musical debut singing two songs on the film’s soundtrack album. The CD was released last fall when the film began its European festival circuit and has been praised for the film’s score and cast’s musical abilities. "She can hold her own as far as singing goes,” says an E! Online story. “She absolutely killed it.” Biel sings the title track—
"Mad About the Boy"—and “reveals for the first time on film the breadth and appeal of her beautiful smoky singing voice.”
In the powerful R-rated thriller
Powder Blue, Biel plays an overwhelmed exotic dancer, one of four desperate characters in Los Angeles whose destinies are about to collide on Christmas Eve. Biel stars as Rose-Johnny, a single mother who recently moved to Los Angels with dreams of becoming a star. But when her son is seriously injured in an accident, she has to dance at a gentleman's club to cover the enormous hospital bills. While she waits to see if her son will awaken from his coma, she finds comfort from her beloved dog Rudy. One night she returns from a date only to find her dog missing. She panics and goes out into the streets of LA to search for him.
Cati Jean, Biel’s dancing coach for the film, had this to say about the actress: “She could be a professional dancer if she wanted to. Jessica is so good and focused. She has the beauty element, she has the body—she has all the package you want in a professional dancer.”
Powder Blue also stars Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta and Eddie Redmayne. Producers had planned a limited theatrical release for the film, however that release was abruptly cancelled shortly before the scheduled date and the film is going directly to DVD with an availability date of June 9
th.
Biel, who is the cover girl for
Allure magazine’s June issue, has two other films currently in post-production that are slated for release in 2009. In the romantic comedy
Nailed, Biel plays a naive small town waitress who accidentally gets a nail buried in her head, causing erratic and outrageous behavior that leads her to Washington DC. There she falls for a dashing, but clueless, Congressman who searches for the courage to save her. Jake Gyllenhaal and James Marsden also star in the film, for which no specific release date has been set.
And Biel stars opposite fellow IMTA alum Seann William Scott (LA95) in the animated adventure
Planet 51, currently scheduled to open November 20, 2009. In the Ilion Animation film, the inhabitants of Planet 51 live in fear of alien invasion. Their paranoia is realized when an astronaut arrives from Earth. Befriended by a young resident, he has to avoid capture in order to recover his spaceship and try to return home.