Blow

I've had this movie since last summer and I'm now just getting to it.

Blow is the biopic story of George Jung, a major smuggler in the Cocaine trade back in the 80's, George Jung.

Now I've never heard of George Jung. Maybe I should have but I haven't. That doesn't mean a good story can't be pulled out of it right? I mean I had never heard of Frank Lucas and I loved American Gangster.

Well the movie starts out showing George Jung as a kid. He grows up with his hardworking father (played by Ray Liotta) and his hysterical mother (played by Rachel Griffiths). Jung learns from a a very young age that he doesn't want to be poor. So when he grows up (and played by Johnny Depp) he starts dealing marijuana in California with Pee Wee Herman and his girlfriend, a stewardess. (played by Franka Potente) He makes a pretty big profit drug dealing and he expands his business incredibly fast. Until he's arrested.

He's arrested for possessing A LOT of weed. But he skips bail to take care of his girlfriend who is sick and dying. I don't know if its from the weed or something else but she just dies.

After his girlfriend dies, he is arrested again and goes to prison for 26 months. There he meets Diego Delgado (played by Jordi Molla) who has connections with the Colombian drug cartel. He realizes the potential in Jung's smuggling skills and once he's out of prison, he starts doing work with this Colombian cartel.

He meets Pablo Escobar (played by Cliff Curtis) and he gets Pee Wee Herman back in the mix and they start distributing cocaine and just makes a boat load of money.

He also meets Penelope Cruz who just so happens to be the fiance of one of the guys who he immediately started working with. So that's not going to bite him in the ass later.

I won't go over the entire plot but the first two acts of the movie are about Jung rising in the drug business. The importance of having money and not turning out poor like his father did.

The last act of the movie mostly about Jung falling from glory, his eventual incarceration, and the relationship he has with his daughter.

This brings up the first complaint I have with the movie. The first two acts of the movie is mainly about Jung striving not to be poor, find his fortune doing the only thing he's good at, smuggling drugs. And then he just quits. While it is an interesting dynamic that his motivations change when his daughter is born, like 180 change. He sobers up, he quits the drug business and just retires. But there's just a rushed, disjointed feeling about the last act that I wasn't really impressed with.

The movie also is kind of hinting at a sympathetic note towards Jung. The movie is basically trying to make us feel bad for a drug dealer. Saying it was just his ambition and bad circumstances that put him where he is today.

But some of the choices Jung makes are really dumb. I wasn't there so I don't know if he didn't really have any other options and I know there are problems with our criminal justice system but a part of me is saying, "Whelp, that kind of happens when you deal drugs."

Call me a narrow minded person all you want but the last act of the film is focused on the complicated relationship between his daughter and him. Yes, he's trying to do right by her but there's a reason she doesn't visit him in prison. He breaks promises, he breaks up the family with his choices.

A part of the movie I really did like was the relationship he has with his father. His mother is just a complete gold digging, basket case but his father is just insanely supportive and just an awesome dad. I don't usually like Ray Liotta but in this movie he really hits it out of the park. The relationship between these two is really good for the entire movie and that's why it was a little odd for the focus to be more on his daughter in the third act. I see the parallels and for what they're worth they're really fascinating to watch, but the relationship with his father is finished up with a quick send off he sends from prison and then its back to the focus being on the daughter.

Another part of the father that I liked but it was strange for me to like it was how freaking supportive his father is. His mother, again a basket case, is only supportive when the money is there but when its not she shuns Jung and even calls the cops on him once. But Liotta, he's so supportive. You can see it in his eyes that he doesn't want his son to deal drugs but he says it straight up, I know what you do, and I don't care. He basically says, as long as you're happy son, you do you. What a bro. I mean its almost to a point where I want to blame Liotta for not being more of a parent. He just wants his son happy and I guess that's another parallel for the relationship Jung has with his daughter but it still felt a little odd.

As for individual performances, its a really good cast.

Johnny Depp plays George Jung incredibly well and really shows off his acting chops and his vast abilities. The same guy who played quirky and half-drunk Captain Jack Sparrow is playing a cocaine snorting drug dealer. And while those parts may seem in an odd way not very different, they miles apart.

George Jung is charismatic and charming and Johnny Depp really plays that up.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the haircut but I'm guessing that was more of an accuracy decision as opposed to personal preference.

And Depp ages well as the character. Depp was thirty-eight when he did this film and with the exception of the end of the movie when Jung is in his sixties (and lets be honest, its hard to make someone who is in their thirties look like they're incredibly old. Example: Matt Smith as the Doctor) Depp really does a good job at aging with the character. When he's 19, he looks 19. When he's 48, he looks 48. Now of course a lot of the credit goes to the make up artists and director for going with a look convincing enough, but Depp brings the acting to the part, and he does a really good job at it.

And my god, Penelope Cruz.

I don't think I can go out of movie with Penelope Cruz and not be entertained just by the fact that Penelope Cruz was in the movie. Now that may be because she's gorgeous... but so?

But in this movie she was also doing some outstanding acting. Cause she's batshit crazy. I don't know if she gets drunk or high but she'll just go off like she's being exorcised.

The one problem I have involving her was how quickly her and Johnny Depp get together. They literally see each other across a party, have one conversation and then start making out.

Its not the greatest build up... but I can't complain, its Penelope Cruz.

I've already mentioned his parents. Pee Wee Herman did an alright job. Unfortunately, the other drug dealer characters only had a few scenes. Especially Pablo Escobar.

This guy literally has one scene of setting up a business relationship with Jung. They really build this guy up as a badass drug dealer and he only gets one scene, which was a bummer.

I mean even before he talks he talks to a guy for a little bit, hugs him and as he's walking away, his henchmen shoots him square in the face. I wanted to learn a little more about this character.

Now I haven't seen Cliff Curtis in a lot... except in The Last Airbender... which was awful but I thought he did a pretty good job for what little he did. I think he can do a good job

But the character they did actually do a pretty good job with was Jordi Molla's character, Jung's partner, Diego Delgado.

You can tell this guy does A LOT of cocaine. He gets really paranoid and eventually gets jealous of Jung and wants to screw him over.

That kind of another part I didn't like about the third act is that there's not really resolution for Diego's storyline. He just kind of disappears after screwing Jung over.

So that kind of sums up the only problems I had with the movie. The disjointed and kind of anti-climactic ending. Its a fun enough movie but its not exactly memorable. I think its a pretty good performance of Johnny Depp's but I won't say its a must see.

So that's my thoughts on Blow. Its a pretty good movie with a less than great last act.

So have you seen Blow? What do you think of it? Comment and Discuss below.

I'll leave you with this. If you've seen 21 Jump Street, you'll love this. If you haven't, you probably still will. Little bit of background. Johnny Depp got his beginnings with 21 Jump Street, the show. He hated it! So when they did a remake movie, Depp said the only way he'd make a cameo is if they killed off his character. Its relevant because he's an undercover cop with a drug gang. Enjoy!