Blow

Â

Director: Ted Demme (Beautiful Girls, The Ref)
Cast: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ray Liotta, Rachel Griffiths, Paul Reubens
Rating: R
Run Time: 124 minutesÂ

THE SKINNY
The true story of a young man who works with Colombian drug traffickers to smuggle cocaine into the United States in the 1970s.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Johnny Depp is terrific and the story of George Jung is fascinating (but it may need to be “taken with a grain of salt”).

THE FULL REVIEW
During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, if someone living in the U.S. were to have purchased cocaine, there was an 85% chance that it came by way of a man named George Jung. The fascinating story of how Jung came from a blue-collar suburban New England upbringing to become the chief conduit of expansion into the U.S. for Pablo Escobar’s Columbian drug cartel is detailed in the entertaining and enlightening new film Blow directed by Ted Demme. While Blow isn’t nearly as riveting as the grittier and more skillfully directed Traffic (or Scarface for that matter), it is worth seeing if for no other reason than it provides the historical context to the current drug problem in America that other “drug films” do not.

Blow, written by Nick Cassavetes and David McKenna, is based on Bruce Porter’s non-fiction book of the same name and stars a terrifically cast Johnny Depp in the fairly complex role of George Jung. The film traces Jung’s dramatic rise and fall through the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, but only after first showing the audience how and why this otherwise ordinary and likeable kid got started down this unlikeliest of paths. Ray Liotta (Heartbreakers, Goodfellas) plays George’s father, Fred, who struggles, unsuccessfully, to support his family with a small air conditioner repair business. George admires his father but, after seeing his failure, swears that he will not suffer the same fate. George picks up and moves to California in search of a better life, where he finds just that. In no time at all, he’s enjoying the beach, a new set of friends, a beautiful girlfriend (Franka Potente – Run, Lola, Run) and a thriving business selling marijuana that is shipped back east to the numerous college campuses in Massachusetts. The marijuana soon turns to cocaine after George meets up with Diego Delgado (Jordi Molla), an insider in Colombia’s rising drug trade. It is through Diego that George ultimately meets the two people who are most influential in his dramatic rise and fall: Pablo Escobar, played by Cliff Curtis (Three Kings), and Mirtha, George’s future wife, played by Penelope Cruz (Woman on Top, Belle Epoque).

As with any film that is based on a true story, one must view this story of George Jung with at least a bit of skepticism. While I say this mainly because of Hollywood’s propensity for taking dramatic license in non-fiction films in order to make them more “audience friendly,” I also came away feeling that Jung had too strong a voice in this film (this would make sense given that Porter relied, at least partially, on extensive interviews with Jung when writing his book). The result is that the story is presented in such a way that the audience could rightfully develop too much empathy for Jung. Were George’s mother (Rachel Griffiths) and wife truly as they were presented in the film – terribly narcissistic, hateful women, who were to blame for much of Jung’s troubles? And, was George merely the victim of bad luck; a guy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? At times during the film, Cassavetes and McKenna would have it seem that way. Perhaps that is exactly what the writers wanted. The audience is lured into actually rooting for George: “Come on, leave the poor guy alone. He’s just trying to make an honest living.” And that is what makes Blow an interesting and, in one major sense, unpredictable film. In this story, the drug smuggler is a likable protagonist, not the familiar depraved, gun-toting villain.

By: Craig EttingerÂ

FILM HIGHLIGHTS
*Johnny Depp. Depp’s versatility as an actor has enabled him to build one of the most eclectic resumes of any major film star today. He has a rare ability to morph into any role, so that the audience sees only the character that he is playing (think Edward Scissorhands, Donnie Brasco, even Chocolat).
*Ray Liotta – it’s good to see him back
*Great soundtrackÂ

FILM LOWLIGHTS
*Rachel Griffiths as George’s mother was soooooo annoying
*The casting of Paul Ruebens as a drug partner of George
*Not enough of the lovely Penelope Cruz