Is it Ted Demme's fault that Martin Scorsese came out before him? Of course not! But, we can't help but think back on Scorsese's films, mostly because we've seen what happens in "Blow" in movies like "Goodfellas" and "Casino". It's the same old premise with movies like these. Small town kid who grew up poor, decides that he will make it big one day. He later then gets involved with the wrong group of people. He or she finds that they can make quick easy money by either selling drugs, or getting involved in gambling or owning a casino, as long as they have all the angles figured out. Once they get a small taste of this new lifestyle they automatically want more, and there's always someone around who knows how to help them. Later we find that they now have a big house, lots of cars, meet beautiful women, and have more money than they know what to do with. There's actually a scene in this movie where Depp's character and a friend have a apartment room that is full of boxes and this those boxes it's filled with money! Now, once they get to the top, everything must crumble. That's the premise this film takes. We learn about George Jung (Johnny Depp), a poor kid who rew up watching his father work hard all his life, but it was never good enough for his mother. She would constantly leave them, telling his father (Ray Liotta) that they need more money. After seeing the way his father had to struggle George decides that that will not ever happen to him. He soon goes away to the west coast, it's here he first comes into contact with drugs, and it will ultimately change his life, for better and worst! George soons discovers what sort of demand there is on drugs. He starts selling his own stuff which he gets from Derek Foreal (Paul Reubens! Who actually delivers quite an amusing performance). As the film later goes on George is caught for carry over 600 pounds of the stuff with him. When in jail he meets Diego Degado (Jordi Molla) who knows a thing or two about the drug business himself. Once he gets out of prison with the help of Diego, George now is amazing importing 85% of all cocaine that enters the U.S.! To steal a line from Maxwell Smart, would you believe it? 85%! The screenplay by David McKenna, and Nick Cassavetes based on the book by Bruce Poter, which of course is based on the actually life of George Jung is amazing. The writters have managed to display all of Jung's bad sides and still have us at times pulling for him. The first hour of this movie blew me away! I enjoyed it so much. If I could only review the first hour I would give it 4 stars. It's not that the movie is long, but the film takes an unexpected turn. But you can't blame the film for this. If that's what happened in real life to George Jung, what can you do? "Blow" is a very interesting story that I think people are going to want to see. It's a well made film that had very good acting by Depp. It's not as entertaining as "Goodfellas" or "Casino" but it stands very well on it's own. And that's all that counts. A MUST!
Is it Ted Demme's fault that Martin Scorsese came out before him? Of course not! But, we can't help but think back on Scorsese's films, mostly because we've seen what happens in "Blow" in movies like "Goodfellas" and "Casino". It's the same old premise with movies like these. Small town kid who grew up poor, decides that he will make it big one day. He later then gets involved with the wrong group of people. He or she finds that they can make quick easy money by either selling drugs, or getting involved in gambling or owning a casino, as long as they have all the angles figured out. Once they get a small taste of this new lifestyle they automatically want more, and there's always someone around who knows how to help them. Later we find that they now have a big house, lots of cars, meet beautiful women, and have more money than they know what to do with. There's actually a scene in this movie where Depp's character and a friend have a apartment room that is full of boxes and this those boxes it's filled with money! Now, once they get to the top, everything must crumble. That's the premise this film takes. We learn about George Jung (Johnny Depp), a poor kid who rew up watching his father work hard all his life, but it was never good enough for his mother. She would constantly leave them, telling his father (Ray Liotta) that they need more money. After seeing the way his father had to struggle George decides that that will not ever happen to him. He soon goes away to the west coast, it's here he first comes into contact with drugs, and it will ultimately change his life, for better and worst! George soons discovers what sort of demand there is on drugs. He starts selling his own stuff which he gets from Derek Foreal (Paul Reubens! Who actually delivers quite an amusing performance). As the film later goes on George is caught for carry over 600 pounds of the stuff with him. When in jail he meets Diego Degado (Jordi Molla) who knows a thing or two about the drug business himself. Once he gets out of prison with the help of Diego, George now is amazing importing 85% of all cocaine that enters the U. S.! To steal a line from Maxwell Smart, would you believe it? 85%! The screenplay by David McKenna, and Nick Cassavetes based on the book by Bruce Poter, which of course is based on the actually life of George Jung is amazing. The writters have managed to display all of Jung's bad sides and still have us at times pulling for him. The first hour of this movie blew me away! I enjoyed it so much. If I could only review the first hour I would give it 4 stars. It's not that the movie is long, but the film takes an unexpected turn. But you can't blame the film for this. If that's what happened in real life to George Jung, what can you do? "Blow" is a very interesting story that I think people are going to want to see. It's a well made film that had very good acting by Depp. It's not as entertaining as "Goodfellas" or "Casino" but it stands very well on it's own. And that's all that counts. A MUST!