BLOW (2001) Reviewed by Jerry Saravia Originally viewed on Spring, 2001
The drug-dealing business has been shown time and again on film in great detail - it is a business that has shadowed American films as far back as Frank Sinatra's heroin addiction in "The Man With the Golden Arm." The year 2000 saw the interminable ugliness of addiction in the tough-as-nails "Requiem for a Dream" and the futility of the war on drugs in "Traffic." I still must ask this one question: what else is there to say about drugs at this point that has not been said? Well, "Blow" is fascinating for detailing how cocaine arrived in the United States in the first place, and the picture is not pretty in telling it.
"Blow" stars the usually doleful Johnny Depp as George Jung, a drug dealer who first begins his business by selling marijuana in Venice Beach. He hooks up with his best friend, the portly Tuna (Ethan Suplee), and his new girlfriend, Barbara (Franka Potente from "Run Lola Run") at a beach house - they all have no desire to work real jobs though Barbara is a stewardess. A contact through Barbara, the effeminate hairdresser Derek (Paul Reubens), helps establish George's business deal as long as he can be a viable partner. Before you know it, they are rejoicing in tons of cash and partying with petite, blonde women on the beach. Deciding to make more money, George considers extending their business to the East Coast where there are some eager college students. Thanks to Barbara, she can fly out there and sell the marijuana for big bucks. Of course, he gets busted, as he does numerous times in the film and goes to jail.
In jail, he gets wind of the cocaine business in Colombia and George decides that such a drug would make a killing in the United States. It sure does, and he makes more money than he ever dreamed. He also has a stunning wife (Penelope Cruz) who becomes addicted to all the wealth and all the monetary glory. There is no end to it, but of course all good things must come to an end. Thus, George's trusted friends become backstabbers, even his own wife. How can such a business for one man turn itself upside down? Maybe because everyone wants a piece of the pie and they all want to become versions of George Jung. "Blow" is the rise and fall of a cocaine king, a story told countless times before as in Brian De Palma's jumbled "Scarface." The big difference is that George got their first, and he is not someone that handles business matters with machine guns or chainsaws. He is seemingly unaffected by his surroundings and that is a major flaw for a rise and fall tale like this one. Who is George Jung really? Does he have any ambitions in life besides cocaine and marijuana? The only inkling we get of his persona is through his parents (both played by Ray Liotta and a far too thickly-New York-accented Rachel Griffiths) who want their son to be successful. Only George's mother does not share her son's enthusiasm for drugs - she even rats him out in one scene. George's father just wants his son to be careful, as if the drug business was like any other which it decidedly is not. Still, as played by Depp, he carries the same doleful expression in every scene. He has shown far more nuance as Ed Wood or as the book seller in "The Ninth Gate" than he does here.
Director Ted Demme ("The Ref") borrows stylistic camerawork and editing styles from "GoodFellas" and "Boogie Nights," using freeze frames and a roving camera to keep situations flying from one scene to the next. It often works, as does the dazzling opening sequence where we see how cocaine is made and shipped. Too often though, the film gets repetitive and monotonous but it does seem to perk up occasionally to maintain interest. Still, if you have seen "GoodFellas" or "Boogie Nights," you have seen this tale before.
"Blow" is largely uneven and inconsistent but it does burst with some magnetism, and at its core is a sad story of a man who truly had nothing to offer in his life except drugs. The downbeat ending accentuates the life of a man who had no inner life and no sign of intelligence - a Forrest Gump of the drug trade. All we learn is that George simply blew it.
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E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at faustus_08520@yahoo.com or at Faust668@aol.com
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