Word: jung
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...though paralleling the shift in drug trends from mellow pot to frenetic coke, the movie pulls into high gear once Jung and Diego go into the cocaine-import business. (A second aside: Does the schizophrenic nature of the movie mean to imply “pot good, cocaine bad”?) Jung meets Mirtha, played by Cruz in thoroughly unsympathetic fashion, and the two begin a torrid relationship, all wild sex and drug binges. The money that accompanies the cocaine business causes a string of problems: betrayals occur left and right, friendships are broken and the now-married Jung...
...Ninth Gate notwithstanding, Depp is very good as always, while Cruz does her best with the flat character that is high-living Mirtha. Potente is sunshine and charm, even if her German accent does creep into one scene. Ray Liotta gives a performance of grace as Fred Jung, George’s father, a man who doesn’t necessarily approve of his son’s choice of careers but understands. There’s also lots of smart things to like about Blow. The soundtrack (including Cream’s “Strange Brew...
...Maybe one too many drug busts inures the viewer from the meaning. Maybe Demme tries to pack too much of Jung’s life into one movie. Either way, outside of the genuinely moving George-Kristina scenes, there’s too much of a detachment from George Jung. While Jung’s very name might seem to invite psychological analysis of the man, the movie never shows us why he does what he does, or why he is so ambitious. There’s the implication from the childhood scenes that Jung never wants to have...
...really see why cocaine electrified the nation or why the DEA was so zealous in pursuing Jung. When Jung is busted on his birthday, the main impression we get is of the government as party-poopers. Without a strong opponent, it’s hard to avoid the feeling of a passive voice: the movie’s focus is Jung, but all too often things seem to happen to him, rather than him directing the action. Jung gets lucky in having a cellmate who knows Escobar. Jung gets screwed over by Diego. Jung gets busted. It?...
...while Blow is strong enough to ward off those aforementioned cheap-shot headlines, and while its captivating depiction of the life of George Jung is a welcome corrective from caricatured stereotypes of drug smugglers, the whole of the movie comes across as less than the sum of its occasionally brilliant parts. The movie keeps flitting from location to location, chasing the next high (or low) of Jung’s life, never stopping to fully take in what it all means...