Profissão de Risco

'Blow' is a horribly dull rehashing of classics such as 'Scarface', 'Goodfellas' and 'Boogie Nights'. The problems are abundant. Its plot is rambling, bloated and tediously predictable - so many plot points are crammed into it. This poorly constructed narrative results with sorely limited characterisation. Some seemingly important characters come and go within ten minutes, it's a total mess.

Much of the film is one long dreary drug deal, only the most immature viewer would be engaged or, even worse, allured by it. Most people will watch it thinking about how it lacks the energy, sophistication and talent of all the fantastic crime films it so crudely rips off. Few films are as annoyingly kitsch as this.

Johnny Depp again proves his lack of credibility in the crime genre, his first attempt being in the similarly dull 'Donnie Brasco'. I'm not sure why some deem his performance 'excellent', his feminine features and lack of charisma just don't work in the genre.

Ray Liotta plays Depp's father, the noble working class stock character that forms the film's rather flimsy anti-drug message. This fails because of the aforementioned narrative issues; the film is utterly devoid of any message that properly resonates with the viewer because it is all so hackneyed and clichéd. Most people who like this film appear to foolishly do so because they find it 'cool', much like the bonehead rappers who idolise Tony Montana in 'Scarface'.

To make matters worse, the film also has mawkish lashings of sentimentalism towards the end. The crew had to have known how inferior this film was during production, I can imagine it was exhausting for them to complete the project with any conviction.

Johnny Depp, (George Jung),"The Libertine",'04 played an eager young guy who wanted to out do his father in many ways in life, especially making more money and satisfying his wife. When George Jung was growing up, his father and mother always fought about not enough money and his mom seemed to always dominate his poor dad. Penelope Cruz,"Sahara",'05, played the wife of George and was a complete knock out with her good looks and great acting skills. George Jung hit the top of his chosen career with rooms filled with millions of dollars and lots of white powder to blow up the nostrils. If you like pictures dealing with drugs and the outcome of enjoying this junk, this is the picture for you. Johnny Depp, gave an outstanding performance and put his heart and soul into this role.

BLOW / (2001) **** (out of four)

By Blake French:

I don't think George Jung was a corrupt, sleazy drug smuggler, but, more or less, a young businessman making money to support his family and wild lifestyle. That is what makes Ted Demme's "Blow" different from other drug movies-it does not portray its characters as addicted lowlifes, but as recklessly successful, high powered individuals who simply want to live the American dream. The film is based on the true story of George Jung, whose image went from the average Joe next door, a high-school football star from a small Massachusetts town, to the world's premiere importer of cocaine from Colombia's Medellin cartel, who once supplied the States with over 85% of the total amount of imported cocaine in the 1970's and 80's. "Blow" is one of the best movies of the year.

"Blow" covers a wide range of generations and locations, ranging from the turbulent 60's to the haze of the 80's, and from such areas of the North America like Massachusetts, Florida, Colombia, California, Mexico, New York and Illinois. The time and location span provided the filmmakers with a challenge. The film was shot in a variety of locations in Southern California and in Mexico. "It was a difficult film to schedule and shoot because it had so many different time periods. And since it was the story of a man's life, every scene was fairly brief which meant an incredible number of scenes to be shot," explains executive producer Georgia Kacandes.

Covering so many years in a single film also tests the ability of the film's costume designers and makeup artists. The wardrobes, makeup and hair styles appear authentic and impressive. This movie pays close attention to even some of the most minute of details.

George Jung's motives for pursuing drugs may have been triggered by his family life as a child. His father was a nobody construction worker who often struggled with money and his marriage. In the film, Ray Liotta plays George's poor but content father, with the versatile Rachel Griffiths as his bitter, unhappy mother. George vows to never live his life in poverty, no matter what.

He moves to California as a young adult where selling marijuana supports his independent lifestyle. Paul Reubens and Ethan Suplee play George's drug-dealing comrades. Eventually, the authorities send him to prison for a while, where he meets Diego Delgado (Jordi Molla). An insider in Colombia's rising drug trade, this man educates George about the profits of selling cocaine. After serving his time, Jung becomes partners with Pablo Escobar (Cliff Curtis), the billionaire godfather of international cocaine trafficking.

"Blow" displays a consistent and detailed portrait of the spectacular rise, and dramatic fall, of Jung and his travel towards turning powder cocaine into American's biggest drug problem. Ted Demme's direction is vivid, determined, and stylish. He reportedly conducted many interviews with the real life George Jung, as he makes very clear the early high life, and the dangerous reality of a drug smuggler's everyday lifestyle. Demme is careful to stay away from frequent potential distractions, like the drug use, side characters, family issues, and romantic interests. This is a vivid narrative of a very interesting character. It does display a message about drugs that we have seen before, but never in this stylishly innovative light.

Laced with amusing detail and probing awareness, "Blow" defies the usual road of drug movies and provides us with tension and interest from Jung's many experiences-risky border crossings, ferocious consultation, unexpected deception, the persistence of the authorities, and unconquerable temptations. But untimely the film shows the true tragedy of losing your dreams to greed and drugs.

Johnny Depp proves once again what a triumphant, adaptable actor he can be. He portrays George Jung with the perfect amount of greed, style, confusion, pride, and desperation. The real George Jung is in a prison cell in New York. Without possibility of parole, Jung's release date is scheduled for 2015. Depp acknowledged the responsibility that comes with dramatizing a true individual, but also the responsibility of the director. "I knew Ted was committed to the film, but I didn't understand how deeply committed he was to the real George."

"Blow" becomes one of the most intriguing movies of 2001, but it even suffers in comparison to the incomprehensible achievement director Darren Aronofsky accomplished last year with his disturbingly real display of the downward spiral of four drug addicts in "Requiem for a Dream." That film gave us a cinematic taste of what drug addicts experience through their addictions and depravity. "Blow" still shines a fresh new light on drugs in movies, and perceptively portrays the story of a person from whom many can learn.

Based on a true story of how the American cocaine market was founded, this is a lot more funky than I had expected. A thumpingly good soundtrack right from the start and Johnny Depp cruising in to be a convincingly laid-back big-shot - almost like a graduate from Boogie Nights. Penelope Cruz manages to be blisteringly erotic in a few well-crafted scenes and without removing a stitch of clothing. Later, instead of following the usual pattern of despair in the second half where most drug movies home in on drug dependency, Blow refreshingly focuses on the emotional losses suffered by the characters. A film that just about manages to be more than the sum of its parts, it would have made a nice sort of pre-quel to Traffic, but it stands alone in fine form. And it's moving rather than depressing.

I don't understand why many people I talked to either thought the film was bad or mediocre. Sure, it isn't a "great" movie, but when was the last time you saw 5 great movies in a row? A great movie comes along once in a blue moon, depending on your definition of great. I personally was very engaged in the plot. Johnny Depp gives a tour-de-force performance, fully engaging himself in the character. I'm sure he did lots of research on George Jung and tried to mimick his every mannerism, because this was far from a half-baked effort. Then again, I don't ever recall Johnny Depp doing a movie where he didn't put his full enthusiasm into the role. The movie has many tragic moments and many funny moments. The film is a little over 2 hours long, but the time flew by in a breeze. I was so enlightened that I'm anxious to do some research on the real George Jung. I'm not a fan of Penelope Cruz, and they could've chosen a much better actress, but she's only in the film about 20 or 30 minutes, so she isn't given enough time to ruin the film. Paul Reubens gives a surprisingly earnest performance as a flamboyant, bisexual hairdresser. It's too bad he's caught up in all this controversy, because he seems to have sufficient range as an actor. I loved hearing all the great classic rock songs in the soundtrack, and every time I watch the film the songs get stuck in my head and I start singing them for days on end.

"Blow" is a touching drama that doesn't try to exploit the world of drugs, nor condemn it. After seeing George's tragic outcomes as a world-class coke dealer, I doubt anyone would want to get in or get back into the "business," but that doesn't necessarily mean the message is preachy.

My score: 8 (out of 10)