All My Running Time I Wanted To Be GOODFELLAS....

Rating: 7/10 (12 November 2003)

.... Well that`s the impression I got when BLOW started as Ted Demme borrows a very similar style to Martin Scorsese`s classic gangster movie as the movie starts with a flash back a pumping soundtrack and voice over and seeing as the early scenes have Ray Liotta this did nothing to stop me thinking that I`d be watching a Scorsese clone but I was misled by the beginning as Demme has made a good film , maybe not a classic but it`s still a good film .
The film is a bio-pic on George Jung who started off as a youth selling pot on the beaches of California in 1968 and who went on to become the major supplier of cocaine to the United States in the 1970s and early 80s and unlike a great number of movies " based on true stories " involving drug trafficers , most notably the film version of MIDNIGHT EXPRESS , nothing here seems to ring false or feels embellished . It`s also refreshing to see a movie that`s totally amoral and non judgemental about drug dealers , though of course it does make the point that despite large profits being made drug dealing will almost certainly end in tears
Johnny Depp is adequate as George Jung though I`m still unconvinced if he`s a star down to his looks rather than an abundance of talent . I`ve noticed many critics are annoyed at the casting of Penelope Cruz but I found her giving a good performance and can`t help thinking a lot of comments are made by women who are jealous of her beauty , oh and Ms Cruz gets naughty with a whip in this movie which is reason enough to watch in my book , and Ted Demme does bring a very snazzy style to BLOW like numerous scenes that start in slow mo and finish at normal speed and vice versa
Drugs are bad - BLOW is good