Blow – Dark biopic

Believe it or not, there was a time when Johnny Depp could do no wrong. ‘Blow’ was an example of one of the many – possibly only average – films which his presence and screen-charisma elevated to more than just a run-of-the-mill biopic of a drug dealer.  Depp plays ‘George Jung’ – possibly the most notorious American-born drug dealer of the seventies and eighties and ‘Blow’ charts the man’s rise to power and subsequent fall, leaving off where he (literally) is today (or at least where he was in 2001 when this film was released).

Besides Depp, there aren’t that many famous faces on show here.  Penelope Cruz seems to relish taking a break from playing ‘nice girls’ back then in favour of being Depp’s crazy, coke-fuelled on-screen wife and Ray Liotta pops up as Depp’s long-suffering father (with occasional dubious make-up to show how he’s aged throughout the story).  Besides them, it’s a Johnny Depp film all the way.  I do wonder whether, if it was released today, it would have been half as popular, as Depp’s last few big screen ventures have brought nothing but scorn from critics at the Box Office.  However, here he shines.  Yes, he is certainly a rogue – someone only interested in the ‘good life,’ but despite being a criminal, he’s never a violent one (of course some may argue that spreading addictive and deadly drugs to the masses constitutes ‘harming’ people!).

Being a ‘real life’ tale (or, as Hollywood tends to do, takes aspects of the real events and forms a more compelling narrative around them) Depp provides a lot of voiceover which does tend to ‘tell’ the story, as opposed to ‘showing’ what transpires.  Plus this turns into a convenient tool with which to fill in blanks when the film moves from time period to time period (I think – technically – it starts in the fifties and ends up in the nineties, so many time-jumps are required).  And, if a voiceover isn’t there, sometimes you get a montage to quickly get the audience to the next major point in Jung’s life.  These can come across as a bit jarring and make the film (which most likely could have been a whole TV series about this man’s life!) feel a little rushed in places.

If you’re into crime films (based on real life events, or otherwise) you should enjoy this.  It’s definitely very watchable and, from what I’ve seen online, presents a reasonable attempt at portraying the facts surrounding Jung’s life.  Plus, if you’re into Depp in his heyday, then you’ll get your money’s worth here.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one