Review: BLOW (2001)
Blow (2001)–**
Last year, Traffic became a benchmark film and set the tone for the next level of drug movies. The first movie to deal with the subject of drugs since Traffic is Ted Demme’s Blow. Starring Johnny Depp, Blow tries to be as poignant as Traffic while throwing in a bit more fun. Unfortunately, it lacks that power that made Traffic on of the best films of 2000.
Blow follows the life of drug trafficker George Jung (Johnny Depp). George grew up in a family where his father (Ray Liotta) barely made enough money to get by. When his father filed for bankruptcy, George made it his life goal to become rich. The search for wealth takes him to California. There, George stars peddling marijuana with a flamboyant hairdresser named Derek (Paul Reubens). The marijuana brings him the life he wanted, but it also results in a sort stint in state prison.
In prison, George meets Diego. Diego turns George on to the world of cocaine. When George gets out of prison, he meets up with Diego and the two start to move Pablo Escobar’s cocaine into the US. The use of cocaine explodes in the States, and George becomes unimaginably wealthy. The lifestyle soon catches up with him, and George becomes entangled in a web of greed and betrayal. His life is turned upside-down, and the business makes him loose the one thing he ever loved.
Blow has two sides to it. One part is wild and entertaining. That doesn’t last long, and Blow starts become a familiar tale of the drug life. When it comes to being a fun movie I won’t deny that parts of the film are really enjoyable. Scenes of Jung’s early life in the world of drugs show an unending party that makes the movie look like it has a chance. However, the movie turns into the hackneyed tale of the self-destructive drug life. There is nothing new or innovative to come out of it. Only two things that separate the film from a television movie are the cast and the director.
Director Ted Demme captured the seventies. The film felt just like a movie out of that decade. I’m not just referring to the characters, but the style he used to shoot the film was the seventies. Johnny Depp was very cool as the young George Jung, but looses it as the movie transforms his character. Depp almost always picks a fascinating and quirky character, but George Jung is hardly interesting. I don’t care if he was the man to bring cocaine into the US. He was boring and all of Johnny Depp’s talent couldn’t overcome that. Penelope Cruz, who for some reason gets second billing, brings as much as she can to her character. Once again the tedious character surmounts the ability of the actor. The best character and performance in the film come from Paul Reubens. He is the only reason to see this film.
Blow is nothing fresh, nothing original, and nothing new. Frankly, it blows. This uninteresting tale of drugs just doesn’t cut it, but if you have to see a film about drug trafficking, Traffic is still in theatres.
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