As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a...Drug Baron!

Rating: 5/10 (1 October 2004)

Even though Blow isn't a great film, it has enough style and character to prove that director Ted Demme had a promising and fertile career lying ahead of him. Sadly, he passed away early 2002 due to a heart failure. Demme, who previously directed modest comedies such as 'The Ref' and 'Beautiful Girls' delivered his first (and immediately last) ambitious film: a long and detailed biography of George Jung who learned his fellow Americans to sniff cocaine.
George Jung's life (and thus the film) was divided in two major chapters. After spending a childhood on the edge of poverty, adolescent George and his friend Tuna head for California where they become prominent marihuana-dealers. With the help of an entire crew he develops an ingenious plan to transport and sell pot from California to his home-state Massachusetts. After a first conviction and the painful loss of his girlfriend, Jung learns about the wonders of cocaine in prison. Immediately after his release he works his way up in the Columbian hard-drug circuit where he experiences financial successes, but even more emotional agony and physical devastation in the form of betrayal, drug-abuse and paranoia.
Since the film follows Jung's life so strictly, the film often is somewhat boring and it suffers from a serious anti-climax. The last 45 minutes are, in fact, a giant moralistic 'crime doesn't pay' message. Jung's love for his little daughter is painfully exploited and the constant interactions with his father are little redundant. The atmosphere and structure of 'Blow' are heavily influenced by GoodFellas and  even though Demme intended to pay tribute to this film  it reflects itself more like being a cheap imitation of a classic milestone. Johnny Depp's voice-over guidance sounds exactly like Ray Liotta's in GoodFellas. Demme even cast Liotta as Jung's father and mentor. A direct reference to his pupil role in GoodFellas?? Blow contains too many dialogue and a little too less action and compelling aspects. It's not easy to deliver a top-efficient biography on film, but Blow nevertheless is a reasonable effort. Not exactly fit for repeated viewings but definitely worth checking out if you're interested by social issues, psychological portraits or just when you're a fan of Johnny Depp.