Quality film follows highs, lows of cocaine dealer’s life
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 1, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 New Line Cinema Johnny Depp (left) and
Jordi Molla star in "Blow," Ted
Demme‘s film based on the life of cocaine dealer George
Jung. "Blow" opens in theaters nationwide Friday.
By David Holmberg
Daily Bruin Contributor
A word of caution: too much “Blow” can lead to an
overdose. An overdose, however, has never been this entertaining or
rewarding.
As for the side effects of a “Blow” addiction
““ it may cause intense emotions and a desire to see other
quality films.
In Ted Demme’s new fact-based film, Johnny Depp stars as
George Jung, the first man on this side of the United States border
to smuggle in cocaine on a massive scale. Spanning four decades,
the movie follows the rise and fall of a single man who has
succumbed to that overpowering American dream of ambition and
wealth.
While an intensely personal drama, the film also reflects the
mood of each era, capturing every period in attitude, costume and,
of course, music.
This is done so thoroughly that time flows smoothly, compelling
the audience along, rather than jarring the audience with awkward
time shifts.
The film itself is a drug trip, with highs, lows and ultimately
a state of depression. The story is told as a flashback with Depp
narrating ““ a common practice in most of Depp’s latest
movies.
This proves to be a successful way to tell the story because it
provides the moral grounding needed to prevent the film from
drifting into a drug-induced fantasy world.
As the story unfolds, Jung’s upbringing in a small,
working-class, New England town is exposed as a fundamental
influence in his later pursuits. Ray Liotta plays Jung’s
father, Fred, who is supportive of his son regardless of his
problems with the law. Liotta is surprisingly effective and
consistent, as his character adjusts from caring for a normal
adolescent male, to loving America’s biggest cocaine
dealer.
Jung’s mother, Ermine (Rachel Griffiths), cares little
about either her husband or her son. As far as she’s
concerned, money is the key to happiness. The American dream is in
dangerous contention here, as Jung’s mother wants the
illusionary ideal of wealth as happiness while his father is barely
getting by in the workplace reality.
Vowing to never become his parents, Jung leaves the East and
enters the smoke-filled world of Southern California’s 1968
Manhattan Beach drug culture. The joints are rolled, the drugs are
smoked, and the liberal 1960s comes alive.
The shear amount of marijuana consumption leads Jung to the
conclusion that he can make a lot of easy money as a dealer. The
ever-entertaining Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman), enters as Derek
Foreal, a hairdresser and small- time drug dealer. Together, they
begin smuggling huge quantities of marijuana across the Mexican
border, and the money starts flowing in.
With money comes problems, and the films light-hearted bounce
begins to evaporate. This is reflected in every nuance of the film,
from increasingly strained character interactions to less fluid
camera movements, and culminates with the death of a loved one and
an arrest for possession of 660 pounds of marijuana.
During his relatively brief prison stay, Jung learns about the
future of drugs ““ cocaine. Upon his release, he heads to
Colombia and meets renowned cocaine kingpin, Pablo Escobar (Cliff
Curtis).
The cocaine business is a serious one, and the ease and fun of
selling pot has burned away to reveal this deadly new enterprise.
At this point in the 1970s, the drug is still fairly obscure, but
Jung changes all that. By virtually inventing the market, he is
vaulted into the top levels of society, and making more money than
even he can spend in this new extravagant lifestyle.
At his highest, he marries Mirtha (Penélope Cruz), a wildly
out-of-control Colombian woman who thrives on the drugs and excess
of her husband. Cruz’s performance is so wonderfully
over-the-top that it is impossible to want her flame to ever
extinguish.
Together Mirtha and Jung have a daughter, Kristina, who becomes
Jung’s only foundation as everything starts to unravel.
As painful and depressing as a hangover, the drugs wear off, and
reality pounds in. There is no going back now and no way to stop
the unfortunate events that lie ahead.
Jung’s mother betrays him, his friends deceive him, his
wife misleads him and ultimately he loses his daughter’s
love. It is an inevitable tragedy, but nonetheless deeply
moving.
This is precisely why the film succeeds. It is a personal drama
about a simple but ambitious man who gives his all to obtain the
American dream. The painful irony is that Jung directed his
entrepreneurial efforts toward drug trafficking, and although
illegal, he was still tremendously successful.
The fact that marijuana and cocaine are not permitted in the
United States is irrelevant; Jung simply pursues a better life than
his parents. Unfortunately, his business was forbidden by the
law.
This humanistic element gives the film a personal impression of
the drug world that Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic”
lacks. In “Blow,” the ease and accidental nature of the
drug culture are shown, as it is depicted as just another business.
Jung is not a victim of drugs, but of the changing tides in
cultural acceptability and law enforcement.
The film solidifies its unforgettable status with the final
frame ““ a picture of the real George Jung, still serving time
in prison until 2014. The haunting image is a startling and
effective reminder that the man is real, the story is real, and the
tragedy is real.
“Blow” makes no judgment about the morality of drugs
and is instead an unmatched story of a man’s misdirected
ambition. So go to the theater and take in some “Blow.”
It’s the cheapest and most legal high on the market.
FILM: “Blow” opens nationwide on
Friday.A special advance screening on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the
Freud Playhouse in Macgowan Hall.
