Commercial Doobage - Nothing Special, BUt It Does The Job

Rating: 6/10 (8 October 2010)

"Blow" takes us on a roller-coaster ride that truly defines pot as a gateway drug. One quote from the movie sums it up, "Danbury wasn't a prison, it was a crime school. I went in with a Bachelor of marijuana, came out a Doctorate of cocaine".
Step by step George Jung(Depp) gets deeper into the drug industry. As the risk goes up, so does the reward, and George isn't scared of anything. Depp is very good here - especially for what amounts to a likable stoner / entrepreneur.
One of my favorite things about this movie is the music. Fantastic throughout. Buy the soundtrack. All the production values are high, and the life-lessons, while understated and under-developed, are realistic and heartfelt.
Penelope Cruz's character is extremely shallow and unlikable. It's not so much her performance, but the audiences' disagreement with her character's inclusion in the film, and with George, that brings this film down a bit. I just don't think the audience likes to see the likable drug dealer with the mean material girl. For the most part, George surrounds himself with characters that are slimy but likable - ones that we don't seem to mind tagging along with on a two-hour journey to nowhere.
Blow won't blow you away, but during the first hour when George is just opening the doors to his business, its fast-paced and exciting.
Not everyone's cup-of-tea... it does glorify drug dealing to some degree(but how can you not in reality), and avoids the typical cookie-cutter Hollywood ending.
64/100
You'll like it if you liked: American Gangster, The Doors, King of New York, and The Boost.