Blow (2001)

Director:

Ted Demme

Writers (WGA):

Bruce Porter (book)
David McKenna (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 April 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Based on a True Story.

Plot:

The story of George Jung, the man who established the American cocaine market in the 1970's.

Plot Keywords:

Cocaine | 1970s | 1960s | California | Marijuana

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Johnny Depp	...	George Jung
Penélope Cruz	...	Mirtha Jung (as Penelope Cruz)
Franka Potente	...	Barbara Buckley
Rachel Griffiths	...	Ermine Jung
Paul Reubens	...	Derek Foreal
Jordi Mollà	...	Diego Delgado (as Jordi Molla)
Cliff Curtis	...	Pablo Escobar
Miguel Sandoval	...	Augusto Oliveras
Ethan Suplee	...	Tuna
Ray Liotta	...	Fred Jung
Kevin Gage	...	Leon Minghella
Max Perlich	...	Kevin Dulli
Jesse James	...	Young George
Miguel Pérez	...	Alessandro (as Miguel Perez)
Dan Ferro	...	Cesar Toban

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive drug content and language, some violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) (cut) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #37768) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

Apostle

Trivia:

According to the Director's Commentary, the tape that George Jung leaves for his father near the end of the movie is a verbatim transcript of a tape that the real George Jung recorded under similar circumstances.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene after George meets Pablo Escobar and his associate is executed, Escobar's henchmen are dragging the "dead" body. However, you can still see the "dead" man isn't actually dead, the man's legs are bent and his feet flat on the ground.

Quotes:

[first lines]
George: That's a nice boy. Go get 'em, Dulli.

Movie Connections:

References Jaws (1975)

Soundtrack:

Cool Yule

Cocaine, They Started that. Your Welcome.

That statement was said by Denis Leary who, not surprisingly, co-produced this drug epic with Ted Demme who not only directs this film, but Leary's special No Cure for Cancer. Watching that special, I would've never expected a movie this good and serious, but it is. And unless a better film comes along this year, Blow might just be the best film of 2001.

In this bio-pic, George Jung is a guy who starts out by selling pot in the California area. After a while though, he progresses to selling cocaine in the late 70's and early 80's with the infamous Pablo Ecobar, and becomes a multi-millionaire (Jung, played by Jonny Depp very well, explains that if you bought cocaine in that time period in America, there would be a 85 percent chance it was from him). But then we see how things change with time, especially with Jung, which makes this movie even more fascinating and excellent.

While Blow is stylish, smart and hard edged with good stuff, the film also has compassion and feeling, in-particular in the third act which gives this movie a clever turn. Also with brilliant acting from the cast (the ensemble includes Depp, Paul Ruebens, Penelope Cruz and in a twist of a role from GoodFellas, Ray Liotta as Jung's dad) and a well told story, this is one of the best bio-pics and drug movies of the 00's.