Review: Blow

By Azad on 2001-04-11 17:35:03

Johnny Depp graces the screen once more with his strong but subtle performance as George Jung, the man responsible for popularizing the use of powder cocaine in the United States during the late 1970's. Blow is based on the sad but true story about this man, and the screenplay for the film was based on the book Blow, by Bruce Porter. The film also stars Penelope Cruz, Ray Liotta, and Paul Reubens.

The movie spans across three decades of the turbulent life of George Jung, the American cocaine smuggler who established the first vital link between Pablo Escobar's Colombian cartel and the United States in the 1970's, and as claimed in the film, is responsible for 80% of the incoming cocaine. The style of Blow is very subtle and focuses on drama instead of being action-packed, and Depp's performance as Jung reflects the film's style very well. The film mostly concentrates on George Jung's relationships with his family, friends and associates, building up empathy and understanding of the characters it presents. The film only touched very briefly into moral issues, but did not manage to deeply explore them and leaves something more to be desired. Other than that however, I thought Blow was a well done film which manages to show a thoughtful and convincing portrayal of the characters' lives fragmented by the drug culture.

Conclusion: I give this movie an 8/10. The film manages to tell the story based on emotion and realism rather than action and glamour, and viewers should try to appreciate it for that.

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