George Jung: American Hero?!?

Rating: 5/10 (17 August 2006)

What we have here is the story of George Jung, the man we should all thank for establishing a system of getting cocaine from there to here for the sake of greed, hence giving our great country one more black eye to ice. And who do the Hollywood suits pick to play this despicable lowlife? Why, Johnny Depp - duh, people! While it is interesting to see how American junkies were suddenly able to form white powdered staches, even more so it's embarrassing and depressing. It also doesn't help that there are a lot of borrowed elements from past drug epics like Scarface and Goodfellas (Ray Liotta plays George's dad - go figya!). The film's mood, of course, has nowhere to go but downhill. The final scene (my favorite scene) in jail with George and his daughter, however, is just powerful enough to stay with you, if for any reason, because of the still photo of the current and real George Jung we see before the credits roll. The pic makes you want to turn your head to stop looking at such evidence of a masochistic life. Only see this movie if you want to give up further on society or if you have a hankering for a Depp movie and this is the only thing lying around without resorting to a Freddy Kruger gorefest.