Product: Blow [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 4.0
Strangely Familiar, Wildly Entertaining.
I have to admit, I did find this film very entertaining. It does steal it's cinematography, direction, and soundtrack style from 1990s Martin Scorsese classic "Goodfellas" in a very obvious rip-off though. Let's face it, that's part of what makes it entertaining. What a compliment, over a decade and someone is still trying to capture that magic.There IS some magic herein. The film moves along interestingly, doesn't really have any dull moments, and is easy to follow. This is a very watchable cast as well. I personally found this film far more interesting than "Traffic", which felt slow, and too convoluted. I will say that Johnny Depp was somewhat annoying to me in his role as main character George Jung. He wasn't a sympathetic character, he just seemed like a moron who managed to accrue a ton of money illegally, only to "Blow" it. I didn't care about him or anyone else in the film, due to the one big fault here, poor character development. Everyone in the movie seems empty, with the exception of Ray Liotta, who did a fine job as George's dad. I disliked Depp's bogus New England accent, it was annoying to listen to his narrations of the events. This only thing worse? His moms annoying nasal whine. I lived in New England at one time, nobody sounded like this! I also can't fathom why George evolves into such a doofy goofball toward the end, after having been a fairly cool guy at the beginning.The plot develops heat in the form of beautiful Mirtha (Penelope Cruz). She is a hedonistic, self indulgent Columbian coke family princess. There is some steamy sexual chemistry as the two meet at a wedding of Georges closest Columbian associate. George steals Mirtha from a rival who can't fight his good standing with Pablo Escobar, famed (or so they say) lord of the (drug)rings. The two words "I Do" turn George into more than just a "gringo" to the cartel. He becomes part of the family too. Of course, that's not ALL he becomes as a result of this union. Watch and see for yourself.Something I found funny, is the not so coincidental casting of Ray Liotta as Georges n'er do well Dad, and the goomah(girlfriend) he kept on the side in "Goodfellas", playing Georges Dad and Mom respectively.For the most part, watching the rise and fall of Jung from the 60s as a drug dealer who starts with marijuana, then pushes the envelope to a 70s Cocaine empire, is fun. You get an excellent feel of those eras in time, the clothes, hair, music ect. Again though, a similar agenda to "Goodfellas." The only difference? One was the rise and fall of a "mobster" the other a "drug dealer" but still, chronicled in similar fashion during the same eras. However, since Henry Hill and associates did traffic and sell cocaine in a major amounts, the only difference is with "Blow" is, that's the ONLY basis of the story.That said, although one dimensional in its plot, not delving too deeply into who anyone actually is, or really getting any feeling for the characters beneath the facade, surface fluff this colorful, is STILL fun and entertaining. That means, it's definitely worth a look.