Product: Blow [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 3.0
Depp is the Master of Disguise
Johnny Depp proves once again that he can portray just about anyone in "Blow," a story based on the life of George Jung the first American drug traffiker to bring Cocaine into the USA from Colombia on a major scale. Depp's style of acting is really anti-acting in that he literally becomes the part he is playing much like Marlon Brando, James Dean and Paul Newman who came out of the New York's Actors Studio. His style of acting is very natural, though with little of the seams and krinkles we see in Brando or Dean's performances. Depp also makes daring choices: how different can his chracter in "Sleepy Hollow" be from his character in "Chocolat" or here in "Blow?" Depp is the best thing about "Blow" despite director Ted Demme's dreary, lackluster pacing. Penelope Cruz who plays Mirtha, Jung's wife, heretofore has been a whirlwind of talent and sexiness, but in "Blow" she is merely drugged out,petulant and mostly boring. Check her out in "Woman on Top" or "Some things about my Mother" to witness Cruz at her best: earthy, smart and sensual like a young Sophia Loren. Franka Potente as Barbara comes off best after Depp proving that she can also play a kind, warm-hearted chracter very much in love with George. "Blow" only succeeds because of Depp and Potente and to a smaller degree Paul Reubens as Derek. It's interesting to note that the real George Jung, who will be released from prison in 2015, had never heard of Depp before this film!