Blow, a true story directed by Ted Demme and written by David McKenna (American History X), starring Johnny Depp and Pen?lope Cruz, is about a small-town guy who single-handedly starts the cocaine craze in America in the `70s.
The story is reminiscent of the 1983 film Scarface starring Al Pacino, where a small-time guy gets involved in the drug trade, gets rich, and then it become his downfall. Johnny Depp plays George Jung, a kid from Massachusetts who moves to California to seek his fortune.
He befriends a pot dealer named Derek Foreal, played by Paul Reubens (yes, Pee-Wee Herman) and quickly becomes the premier dope dealer and smuggler in California. He eventually gets caught and sent to jail, which will be the first of many arrests for Jung.
In jail, Jung meets Diego Delgado who shows him the ropes of cocaine smuggling, with the promise of millions in profits once they get out of jail.
Jung describes jail as an education in drug smuggling when he says, “I went in with a bachelor’s in marijuana and walked out with a Ph.D. in cocaine.”
And Diego was right. Diego introduces George to Escobar, who was the international cocaine smuggler in Colombia. Together, they start the cocaine craze in America, becoming the largest suppliers and making millions in profits.
The film is also an insight into the sensitive side of George’s life. Sure, he smuggled millions of dollars worth of drugs into America, and probably caused the deaths of thousands of people. But he got shafted, you had to feel bad for the guy!
George deserved everything he got while dealing drugs. Even after he tries to separate himself from the drug world and be a good father to his daughter, Kristina, the bad karma just wouldn’t quit.
His so-called friends go behind his back to cut him out of the business. He gets busted by the FBI on his last job by his own friends. While he’s in jail, his wife Mirtha (Pen?lope Cruz) divorces him and takes away the only thing that ever mattered to him, his daughter.
His sensitive father, (Ray Liotta) the only one who seemed to understand George during his life, also dies while he is serving his sentence. What more could go wrong?
While having sympathy for a drug dealer may not be a good thing, the film presented a different perspective on the true-life story of a drug smuggler.
After all, drug dealers have feelings too. The humorous kickers that George threw out added to the film’s enjoyment.
And I have never seen so many drugs in my life! There are mind-boggling amounts of marijuana and cocaine shown in the film, not to mention literally a houseful of money.
These impressive images give a real sense of how much money and drugs George and Diego went through during their careers.
In short, Blow is an inside look at the life and times of a notorious drug dealer.
The film shows the sharp edge of the business and how it can make or break the lives of the people involved, while also showing the softer side of those who are affected.
