Blow

Rating: 9/10 (2 May 2005)

Benny C. Powell HISL-171-02 May 5, 2005 Latin America at the Movies
Blow, a film by Ted Demme, is a true story based on the life of drug dealer, George Jung, played by Johnny Depp. Jung grew up in a working-class family, and saw how unhappy his mother was and vowed to never be poor after his father filed for bankruptcy. In the summer of 1968, George moved to California with his close friend Tuna. In California they were exposed to a lifestyle where the people lived practically worry free, smoking marijuana and hanging out at the beach. It was Tuna's idea for them to start selling drugs, and quickly, through some connections, they became the kings of the beach and he started to enjoy life. But, that wasn't enough, he started selling across to he east coast, and eventually getting marijuana from Mexico. Gong to jail for possessing marijuana only introduced him to cocaine. He moved p in the world of cocaine to Pablo Escobar's American connection. That was the peek of his life. He made over $60 million dollars, married a beautiful Colombian woman, played by Penelope Cruz, which he had a daughter with. Greedy friends kept him out of profitable drug deals, he decided to quit, and when the money stopped coming in his wife decided to leave him. He would go to jail for the last time to serve a 60 year sentence, which he will serve until 2015.
The Latin American countries of Mexico and Colombia play important roles in the movie, because they are both instrumental in George Jung's rise in the drug world. Latin American countries are poor and, Colombia even used cocaine as one of it's major exports. The Colombian drug trade, which exported the illegal drugs to America, brought in "$4 to $6 billion dollars annually" (Keen, 513), also helped other Latin American countries, because Colombia had to export the coca from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Brazil. The cocaine industry was so big and influential in Colombia that dealers were involved in politics.
The little bit of Latin America that is shown is believable, accurate, and doesn't appear to be biased. I think that the 1st scene of them in Mexico, where they are asking everyone they come in contact with if they knew where the could find marijuana is pretty outrageous. Also, when the guy accidentally asked the police officer where he could find marijuana, and ran away from him laughing, it sort of seemed like they made a mockery of Mexico. The presentation of Colombia was also believable. The area is seen as extremely poor, but that is how the text books say it is.
I believe that there wasn't much of the Latin American countries being shown, but what was shown fit into the story, so any more of it would have been irrelevant. George Jung, Depp, did a god job of explaining how powerful Escobar was and the director showed him executing someone, and Escobar himself said that the country was poor.
Blow is great entertainment. The ever versatile Depp, fits perfectly into the cool and ambitious Jung. I believe that movies exhibition of the lives of drug dealers was accurate, and very creative. However, I don't think it is worth watching as education. This is solely for entertainment, there isn't much history presented.
Blow is a great film, and Depp does a great job as usual. The story line is Scarface like, but it is a true story, and if you liked Scarface, you'll enjoy Blow. However, it isn't a great entertainment piece. It doesn't provide much material on Latin America. But , regardless I rate it a 9. (Didn't show enough women and the parties weren't that entertaining).