Blow sounds like a terrific story...

Rating: Null/10 (6 May 2001)

Blow sounds like a terrific story on paper. George Jung, played by Johnny Depp, started off selling pot and then became responsible of the 70's boom of cocaine dealing and using. No wonder it became a movie. But for some reason, even with the intriguing story line, the movie wasn't as fascinating as I thought it would be. While it did provide decent entertainment on a Saturday night, I kept thinking, `What could have been done to make this film better?' And I don't have the answer.
It had a good performance from Depp, who actually made me care about a guy who only had himself to blame for his risky behavior. While the movie was a bit too long, the direction seemed good. There were enough fancy camera shots (jump cut, slow- mo, etc.) to keep my attention, and the pace of the film was relatively brisk for an `epic' type movie. But, I couldn't help but wonder why I wasn't loving this movie. Maybe with already seeing such excellent movies depicting big time drug dealing such as Traffic and Scarface, this one failed to live up to my expectations. Or maybe this movie was as good as it could get considering the `rise and fall of a good man who made bad decisions' plot that is common in so many movies. So, the film was made as well as it could be, but I would recommend it only as a rental. (6.5 stars out of 10)