Product: Blow [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 2.0
"A Paean To All Disciples of Scorcese"
"Blow" is Ted Demme's attempt to be Martin Scorcese for a couple of hours.Demme borrows so much from Scorcese's style in 'Goodfellas' (the flashbacks with 50's-60's music on the soundtrack; freeze frames and voice over narration) it's as if Scorcese is in the wings shouting instructions."Blow" details the story of George Jung, who, growing up watching his hard working father drowning in both a sea of debt and the constant nagging of a shrewish wife, vows never to experience poverty himself.Jung goes from peddling pot to college kids to become a full fledged drug kingpin doing business with Pablo Escobar and the Colombian cartel.Johnny Depp is a fine actor, but the screenplay doesn't give him all that much to work with...Penelope Cruz as Jung's Colombian wife is gorgeous, but she can't act and when she's emasculating Depp in one particular scene, the result is almost laughable ("you are a Poosy!").The whole thing leaves you with an empty feeling buoyed by the realization that you've just watched a two hour film about a guy whose chief accomplishments in life were dealing drugs and going to prison.****The DVD package is excellent and includes some worthwhile special features including an interview with the real George Jung and a series of deleted scenes....Depp's more detailed scenes with Escobar, cut from the final print, were superb and if left in, would have given "Blow" a much needed lift.