Blow (film)

Blow is a 2001 biopic about the American cocaine smuggler George Jung, directed by Ted Demme (his final film). David McKenna and Nick Cassavetes adapted Bruce Porter's 1993 book Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellín Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All for the screenplay. It is based on the real life stories of George Jung, Pablo Escobar, Carlos Lehder, and the Medellín Cartel. The film's title comes from a slang term for cocaine.

Soundtrack

Blow's soundtrack is a compilation of songs and artists from the 1970s, such as: "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" by The Rolling Stones, "All the Tired Horses" by Bob Dylan, "Rumble" by Link Wray, "Glad and Sorry" by Faces, "Strange Brew" by Cream, "Black Betty" by Ram Jam, "Blinded By the Light" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, "Let's Boogaloo" by Willie Rosario, "Keep It Comin' Love" by KC & the Sunshine Band, "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Can't You See" by The Marshall Tucker Band, and "Push & Pull" by Nikka Costa.

Graeme Revell also composed the original score for the film. However, his work was not released in the soundtrack CD. For example, the music in the scene where George and Mirtha have sex, a track titled "Little Ditty", written and performed by Paul Wagner, is missing in the soundtrack album.

Reception

Blow was a minor box office success. With a budget of roughly $53 million, it managed to rake in just under $53 million domestically, but raised just over $30 million internationally for a worldwide total of $83,282,296. Reviews for Blow were decidedly mixed. The film holds an approval rating of 54% at Rotten Tomatoes based on 135 reviews (74 positive, 61 negative), where the consensus is: "With elements that seem borrowed from movies like Goodfellas and Boogie Nights, Blow is pretty much been-there-done-that despite another excellent performance from Johnny Depp. It also becomes too sentimental at the end.

Rob Gonsalves from eFilmCritic.com gave the film 4 out of 5 stars stating: "Blow isn't really a classic, but it's a sobering story well-told. Roger Ebert gave the film 2½ out of 4 stars, but questioned the value about making Jung the subject of this film, stating: "That's the thing about George [Jung]. He thinks it's all about him. His life, his story, his success, his fortune, his lost fortune, his good luck, his bad luck. Actually, all he did was operate a toll gate between suppliers and addicts. You wonder, but you never find out, if the reality of those destroyed lives ever occurred to him. David Nusair of Reel Films also questioned making a film about Jung, stating "The biggest problem with Blow is that Jung is such a complete moron." Nusair concludes that while it "is not a bad film ... the central character of George Jung just doesn't seem worthy to be the center of attention. Christopher Smith from Bangor Daily News gave the film a "D+", stating "Blow is ultimately more about charisma than it is about truth, more about Depp’s smooth strut and tousled hair than it is about George Jung’s fatal flaws — his stupidity, desperation, ego and small-town greed.

Plot

The film opens to a young George (Jesse James) and his parents Fred (Ray Liotta) and Ermine (Rachel Griffiths) of Weymouth, Massachusetts. When George is ten years old, Fred files for bankruptcy and loses everything, but tries to make George realize that money is not important.

As an adult, George (Johnny Depp) moves to Southern California with his friend "Tuna" (Ethan Suplee) and they plan to earn a living by selling marijuana with the help of George's girlfriend, Barbara Buckley (Franka Potente), an airline stewardess who introduces them to Derek Foreal (Paul Reubens), the main dealer. With Derek's help, George and Tuna make a lot of money. Kevin Dulli (Max Perlich), a college student back in Boston, visits them and tells them of the enormous market — and demand — for pot in Boston. With Barbara's help, they start bringing the drugs to Boston.

As the demand grows, they decide to start buying the drugs directly from Mexico with the help of a few minor Mexican drug lords. But two years later, George is caught in Chicago trying to import 660 pounds of marijuana and is sentenced to two years. After unsuccessfully trying to plead his innocence (by reciting the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" and insisting that he did no more than "cross an imaginary line with a bunch of plants"), George skips bail to take care of Barbara, who is suffering from, and eventually succumbs to, cancer.

While hiding from the authorities, George visits his parents back in New England. While he is having a heart-to-heart talk with his father, George's mother calls the police, who come and arrest him.

George is now sentenced to 26 months in a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. His cellmate Diego Delgado (Jordi Molla) has contacts in the Medellín cocaine cartel and convinces George to help him go into business. Upon his release from prison, George violates his parole conditions and heads down to Cartagena, Colombia to meet up with Diego. They meet with cartel officer Cesar Rosa to negotiate the terms for smuggling 15 kilograms to establish "good faith". As the smuggling operation grows, Diego gets arrested, leaving George to find a way to sell 50 kilos (110 lbs) and get the money in time. George reconnects with Derek in California, and the two successfully sell all 50 kilos in 36 hours, amassing a $1.35 million profit. George is then whisked off to Medellín, Colombia, where he finally meets the group's leader, Pablo Escobar (Cliff Curtis), who agrees to go into business with them. With the help of main middleman Derek, the pair becomes Escobar's top US importer. However, Diego resents George for keeping Derek's identity secret and pressures George to reveal his connection. George eventually discovers that Diego has betrayed him by cutting him out of the connection with Derek. Inspired by the birth of his daughter and chastened by a subsequent drug-related heart attack, George severs his relationship with the cartel and vows to leave the drug business forever.