Blow

BLOW

Rating: A

We're told at the beginning this film is "based on a true story," which usually means it contains more elements of pure fantasy than Pinocchio. Be that as it may, this is the saga of George Jung (Johnny Depp), a young entrepreneur in the 70's who became the leading channeler of Columbian cocaine into the U.S., and bagged millions of dollars for himself in the process.

This movie will inevitably be compared to Traffic because of the similar subject matter, but the truth is there really is no comparison. Blow is a far superior film in every respect. In one sense, it is the antithesis of Traffic. Traffic took the stock pandering approach of portraying drugs as a black ooze creeping over pristine white America, cutting a swath of death and destruction which we are powerless to curb. Blow, on the other hand, understands that the only reason drugs ever land on our shores is because there's a huge demand for them, and the only people whom they directly affect are those who welcome them into their lives. I suppose if you're in the habit of denying personal responsibility for your actions, you'll prefer the Traffic approach.

A much better comparison would be between Blow and Goodfellas. Both films depict the rise and fall of a main character who makes his fortune outside the law. Again, I much prefer Blow, because not only is it a better-made film, but it's also easier to feel sympathy for its main character. Does Blow glorify drug dealing? Without question - the same way in which Goodfellas glorifies organized crime. Look at it this way: Will Johnny Depp ever portray you in a movie?

Not that you ever completely feel sorry for Depp's character. A couple of times in the film he does something really stupid, and when bad consequences result you feel like asking him, "What did you expect?" On several occasions during the story, Depp interacts with his father (Ray Liotta), an honest man who busted his hump all his life just to see his contracting business go bankrupt. The film offers us the contrast between Liotta's life of struggle and disappointment and Depp's life of mansions, exotic sports cars, and free-flowing money. And you ask yourself, "Who is Depp victimizing? Isn't he merely providing a service people are willing to pay lots of money for?" But at the same time, when it all comes crashing down around his ears in the end, it's a little hard to swallow the film's portrayal of him as a sympathetic victim. As Baretta used to say, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."

Blow succeeds because director Ted Demme weaves a compelling story out of the events in George Jung's life, and makes them understandable. It's not too difficult for us to place ourselves in Jung's shoes and ask what we would do in each situation. But frankly, I'd never make a good cocaine smuggler because I'd never trust any of the unseemly characters Depp deals with on a routine basis.