Why Enjoying Coke Is a Bad Idea
A fast-paced journey through the life of a real drug smuggler. Drama, black humor and plenty of coke.
Blow tells us the story of George Jung, a key player in the arrival of the Colombian cartels and powder cocaine to the United States. Based on the book Blow: How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million With the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All, by Bruce Porter, the movie presents a sometimes comical look of the events and doesn't need to be preachy to tell us that drugs, using or trafficking them, is not a wise.
But Blow is not only about George's life (played by Johnny Depp), is also a look at American culture; from the innocent '60s to the tumultuous '70s and the unkind '80s.
I liked the way how different outfits and haircuts represent George at different stages of his life. We see him going from cool looking beach boy to depressed father. Johnny Depp acting is a solid prove that he's the right man for the role.
George grew up during the '50s in a Boston suburb, with his hard-working, but poor, loving father (Ray Liotta in a touching performance) and kinda bitch non so supportive mother.
Decided to not being such a loser as his dad, George moves to California when he's eighteen, and starts smuggling pot with his friend Tuna (Ethan Suplee) and the help of a man named Derek (Paul Reubens).
Even if George's supposed to be one of the bad guys (remember? the ones who sell drugs?) he's a charming character and becomes our anti-hero.
His life will change when he goes to jail for the first time and knows Diego Delgado (Jordi Molla), a Colombian who tells George about cocaine being the next big thing and eventually introduces him to Pablo Escobar.
Cocaine was indeed the next big hit and George and Diego started making so much money that they didn't know where to store so many bills.
In real life Diego is supposed to be Carlos Lehder, I'm not sure why they changed his name in the flick. Maybe Lehder wasn't a Latin enough name for the movie producers.
I snorted ten grams in ten minutes once. I guess I had a high tolerance
Blow is a story of rise and fall. A glance at a world of corruption, addiction and betrayal. A world where good intentions are not enough to survive.
It's also the struggle of one man to fit and find happiness. Did he choose the right way? Is there a right way? The relationship of George and his father, who accepts and loves his son no matter what, is an interesting glimpse at this question.
At times George's story evokes Martin Scorsese's classics such as Goodfellas or Casino.
I think director Ted Demme, who died on 2002 of a heart attack possibly caused by cocaine (ironic, isn't it?), does a good job and makes us think about our choices in life while we laugh or suffer along with George.
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Submitted by alexis on Sat, 2006-08-19 04:41. Find more films
It's not scarface but I liked it
For me, Tony Montana has been, and always will be, the ultima motherfucker drug dealer in the movies. Al was just fantastic in that role.
I liked Blow but felt that Johnny Depp was a little... too kind sometimes. I mean, he was a criminal dealing with tough guys right? I can't imagine such a good fellow in that world.