Cheap Blow (Infinifilm Edition) (DVD) (Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz) (Ted Demme) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Blow (Infinifilm Edition)

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.

---

Blows the show
Johnny Depp is Blow. The movie like the intrinsic narcissism of the drug, spirals out of Depp's eye. J.D. is fast becoming a hell of a character actor a la Val Kilmer. Only stylized acting like this transforms such a script into a movie I'll watch every few years. Depp's sensibilities, the cat-house cool, the vaunted respect balanced with a well hidden cockiness are all the vital inflections needed against the drug lords and soldiers he encounters in the movie. George Jung's ambitions far outweigh his talent. The gringo-makes-nice with a far-off world. Yea the documentary facade of the film is obvious, and all the nasty trappings of the Life are well delivered, but to rest on this is missing the point. Blow is a metaphor for the edge, Kristeva's semiotic unspeakable. Like any Eastwood movie, character, not the voice tracking of mainstream acting, is the true anima to an new economy. The late Ted Demme's eye for character is astounding. Jordi Malla's part as Depp's partner is brilliantly creepy and cloying, the devil in disguise. Cliff Curtis, who plays Escobar, is necessary, beedy eyes and all; not to mention Paul Reubens, the Bobcat and even Ray Liotta, who brought something essential. Yea this all happened I guess, no Scarface, but definitely a Boogie Nights.

---

Blow is about the life of Mr. George Jung from childhood to
his final drug bust for which he is still serving time. Johnny Depp carries this movie very well, like all movies about gangs or drugs or anything crime related, this movie starts off with everything going well and then everything starting to go downhill again, it is a true story, obviously with quite a bit of Hollywood fabrication but none the less, it inspires sympathy for the characters, I for one am someone who isn't really a very emotional person when it comes to movies, at least I don't think so, but this movie brought a tear or two to my eye, especially the ending, where Depp recited a poem written by Jung and it is the saddest thing, the special features are quite amazing, I would recommend this movie to people over 14 because it does have an R rating which is due to a lot of language, drug content, extremely brief nudity and some violence here and there. Enjoy.