A pleasant surprise ...

Rating: Null/10 (17 April 2002)

I came to this movie expecting to be let down, but realized part of the way through that I wasn't going to shut this one off. This story is truly of a guy that screwed up repeatedly, and there really is no reason to feel for the guy as he goes to prison for increasingly long stretches ... what does tug at your heart is the fact that Jung (at least as he is portrayed) truly loves his daughter, but can't manage to keep himself together long enough to show her how much ... that is sad and tragic regardless of all of the other shortcomings of the character. The fact that he throws away his life with his daughter for the sake of people snorting powder up their noses makes it even more pathetic ... Jung, however, is weak and lacks judgement, which makes him a lot like many people I know (including myself).
So, I wondered why the critics hate this movie so much, despite the fact that it can hardly be called badly-made when compared to the endless stream of crap that comes out of Hollywood to a resounding "thumbs-up" (and wins awards). First thing I thought of was that these people must not have children, as the idea and depiction of screwing up and tearing apart your family was enough to keep me watching (and feeling really sad), whether Jung was cocaine-king or the pope. Of course, drug movies also just don't go over with Americans these days, who all react with knee-jerk "drugs bad, hate movie" even though it far from glamourizes cocaine. This guy's life, however, was quite amazing, having been in the middle of some of the more significant events and figures of his time. The concept of the same person "inventing" the plane-load from Mexico and connecting with Pablo Escobar is stunning ... good or bad. Finally, I thought that maybe people didn't like the corny morality, drugs-bad story ... turns out that comments seem to be indicating that it wasn't corny or pendantic enough! I also loved the fact that Jung learned most of his trade in prison ... perhaps another Americans don't like to consider.
So, if you were brought up to reject all things drugs and thus can't objectively watch a film about a cocaine dealer, you probably shouldn't bother with this. However, if you want to see a well-made film, with fine acting by Johnny Depp, and an unusually compelling story about how bad decisions can take you away from those you love ... hey, watch this...