Blow

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2008)

In the 1980's cocaine was slowly becoming America's "drug of choice" for lots of Americans no matter how young or old. What you didn't know is that 80% of the cocaine smuggled into America during the 1970's-80's was by one man, George Jung. Jung (Johnny Depp) is the main character in Blow, which is based off of his life and the adventures of being a powerful drug lord. We learn about the high stakes, high reward lifestyle of someone who claims to import that high number of cocaine into America in a certain time period. We follow the ups and downs of a father who isn't able to be there for his child when he wants, and see what its like to be a rich and powerful man with nothing but money on his mind and will not take no for an answer from anyone.
Early in the movie we are introduced to George's father (Ray Liotta), a hard-working man who has to earn every penny to survive and provide for his son and wife. He struggles mightily to keep his business afloat, and a constant money flow is also a problem and its something young George worries about. His father tells him that money is not real, something George fails to listen to. George moves out to California and quickly decides that he wants to make as much money as possible, but does not want a 'real' job. He settles for the career of selling marijuana and quickly becomes one of the most popular dealers on the beaches of California. He meets up with an old friend back east, and transports the marijuana back home to almost double his earnings. This career choice does not pan out that well for George and he quickly finds himself being ratted out to the police by his mother after being caught with 400+ lbs. of marijuana. In the one scene in prison, he describes his stint in prison by saying "I went into prison with a diploma in marijuana, and came out with a degree in cocaine." This movie will take you on a trip to Colombia to visit one of the biggest and most famous drug lords in history, Pablo Escobar. The realness of these scenes are remarkable, using genuine Colombian people, giving a sense of realness to the film. George and Pablo work together and quickly figure out a scheme to make millions upon the millions they are already making. Also you get to witness the beautiful beaches of California, quick showings of how prison life was like, the beautiful cars and houses he had, and his beautiful wife (Penelope Cruz). The makeup they used to show the aging George is tremendous, and show him from the stages of being a little boy to his days in prison spent wandering around the yard. The terminology was extremely accurate, adjusting with each time period being portrayed throughout the movie. They especially translated the drug slang enough for the common viewer to understand, yet have enough in it to make it real. Being based on someone's life, the sets are very authentic, mostly being shot at the exact location it took place in, in real life.
Towards the end of the movie you are introduced to George's little girl, and his struggle with seeing her due to his wife leaving him after getting him arrested during a very dramatic scene. We clearly see how much he cares for her and how he wants to provide for her wit the things his father couldn't, but can George realize that the only thing she wants and needs is him to be around with his love? At some points in the movie you can almost catch yourself feeling sorry, or maybe in the end shedding a tear, but we must remember that George Jung was a criminal dealing a very illegal drug. You truly learn the ins and outs of what that lifestyle is like and how it can tear you and you're family apart. It's a great story told extremely well and acted out tremendously by Johnny Depp and the rest of the cast. There's just one question to ask before viewing this movie and that is, how far is he willing to go, before he loses it all?