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The Movie:
Film as a medium has always been used for many purposes. Be it for pure
entertainment or to educate people . It has and will always have the
ability to teach people about important subjects. These messages may come
in the form of fictional stories, biographical tales or as a documentary.
As someone who values the movies as a source of information and education
about any number of subjects I prefer the lessons to take the form of
either fictional stories dealing with real life issues or biographical
tales. I understand that not everything told in some of these films
happened the way it does in the movies and that some dramatic license is
taken but on a basic level the stories are the same. One subject I've
always had interest in the world of drugs. I think that part of the reason
I've never really experimented with drugs is because of the movies I've
seen in which drugs play a crucial part of the story. Through films like
"Traffic" and "Requiem for a Dream" I have learned about the effects drugs
can have on people and just how they can ruin lives both directly and
indirectly. You can say that these films reenforce the messages you hear
on TV and in the schools but to me they hold more value then just that.
After seeing families fall apart in "Traffic" it made me realize just how
much my family means to me. After seeing the physical and emotional toll on
the characters in Requiem for a Dream I was completed shocked. Drugs are a
bad thing and I would never use drugs. Ted Demme's latest picture "Blow"
is a biographical look at the life of George Jung who during the 70s and
80s was one of the biggest drug traffickers in the United States.
"Blow" tells the biographical story of George Jung (Johhny Depp) , a man born
to the typical all American family in the late 50's early 60's. He lives in
a nice house with his stay at home mother Ermine (Rachel Griffiths) and his
father Fred (Ray Liotta) owner of moderately successful business. He has a
couple of friends by the name of Kevin and Tuna (Ethan Suplee). After high
school Georgr and his friend Tuna decide to move where the action is, sunny
Los Angeles, California. They get a nice place right on the beach and
settle down to live the good life partying it up on the beach with all the
gorgeous California girls. It's here where he meets a stewardess by the
name of Barbara (Franka Potente from Run Lola Run) who helps him get setup
in the pot business by introducing him to the local drug source a
hairdresser by the name of Derek Forreal (Paul Ruebens). Business is
booming when Kevin unexpectedly drops by on a college break. Kevin who now
lives on the east coast tells George there is a real market for good
quality product back east. George decides to test the water and set's up a
small network to get the drugs from the west to the east. Business explodes
and soon it becomes clear that they need to expand the operation as they
begin to hire people to fly planes in and out of Mexico. Like any business
based on unsigned partnership things become to fall apart and eventually
George get's caught. Released on bail George returns to California to find
the good times over and everyone settled down into a normal life. Unsure
of what to do now George decides to skip bail and goes on the run. It's
not long before he is back in jail serving time for his large possession
with intent to traffic charges.
George is now in jail and is looking for a way to pass his time and repay
his debt to society. He finds that the way to early release is to give back
to the jail and teach other prisoners about American History. It's a simple
deal, if the students pass and he remains on good behavior then he can have
time shaved off his sentence. The problem is none of the inmates want to
learn. He makes them a deal that if they listen to the history talk then
he'll spend 50% of the time teaching them the intricacies of the marijuana
business. Meanwhile his cell mate Diego (Jordi Molla) tries to convince him
to switch to the cocaine trade. Diego get's released and waits for George
to do the same. Upon his release George meets up with Diego and begins to
get involved with the Meddlin drug cartel one of the largest in Columbia.
Through his contacts there George eventually meets Pablo Escobar (Cliff
Curtis) and quickly becomes the #1 importer of Cocaine to the United
States. While he makes a large sum of money above and beyond anything he
could ever dream of George is always looked upon as somewhat of an outsider
and when he falls in love with Mirtha (Penople Cruz) he get's himself in
deeper then he ever could get out of. After his marriage to Mirtha things
get even more desperate and trying when business deals start going sour
it's clear that George is in way over his head.
"Blow" is the third film in the past 2 years that has explored aspects of
the drug culture and it's effects on society. It takes a different approach
to this in that it's the personal story about George and how his
involvement in the drug trade eventually ruined his life. It's about a
bright everyday Joe with good business sense who saw an opportunity and
seized it. It also shows how money can take control over a life becoming
the all encompassing reason for living. Money doesn't bring happiness, nor
does it buy happiness. All a large sum of money can do is buy material
things. When placed in the hands of someone who doesn't know what to do
with it money is a huge evil. It also shows that once you've had money it's
hard to go back to a life without it.
Lead by an amazing performance by Johnny Depp the cast in "Blow" is
excellent. Depp steals the show as Boston George the everyday American boy
next door type who dreamed of riches and saw his chance to have them. In a
biographical film where the story focuses on one primary character it's
important to have someone who is believable in the role and that is the
case here. I felt George's pain and understood why he made the moves he
did. I would have done the same thing if I was in his place. A strong
showing here for the talented Depp. Since Depp is the primary character in
the story I would classify the rest of the roles as those of a supporting
nature. Paul Rueben's whose had his fair share of legal problems shows up
as Derek Forreal a comical stereotypical gay hairdresser who becomes
George's first business partner. His wacky off the wall sense of humour
from the Pee Wee series is restrained here but he still gives a very funny
performance. Franka Potente best known as Lola from "Run Lola Run" is good
in her small role as Barbara, George's first love and integral part of the
early operations of his business. Jordi Molla an actor who I had never
seen before is also very good as Diego Delgado, a Columbian who George
meets in prison. Jordi's previous work has been in mostly non English
language films and I hope he continues to appear in American films.
Penelope Cruz is pretty hot in Hollywood right now but isn't someone I'm
particularly fond of . I don't know what it is but she doesn't seem like
star material to me. She is severely miscast here as this role is different
then any of other earlier ones. Despite my dislike for her she seems more
suited to positive romantic comedy type roles and not more desperate and
dark ones like she plays here. Also worth mentioning is Ray Liotta
(Hannibal, Heartbreakers) who play's George's understanding father. Liotta
who in reality is probably not old enough to be Depp's father is convincing
here after obviously using makeup and padding to age himself. Looking down
the cast list it doesn't surprise me that this movie was cast by uber
casting director Avy Kaufman who has cast so many excellent pictures
including this summer's "O" and "AI". When you see the name Avy Kaufman in
the opening credits you can be assured of a quality cast.
Director Ted Demme is a very stylish director and will become a force to be
reckon with in the years to come. Combining the episodic nature of "Boogie
Nights" with the sleek camera styles of movies like "Goodfellas" and
"Casino", director Demme makes a visually stunning film. Demme's short fall
here is his use of characters. By focusing only on George the viewing
audience doesn't get enough insight into the world around him. We only see
what George sees and we aren't given any insight into the motivations for
what he does when he does it. Demme also fails to tell the underlying story
of the damage the drugs take on the users. The story remains too
centralized on George and in some respects this is the film's major asset
and weakness. I for one would have liked to learn more about how the drugs
were distributed from city to city and coast to coast. The film touches
upon this subject early on but after the first 30 minutes this story thread
is all but forgotten. Another problem plaguing Demme is the pacing. The
first hour goes by very quickly but the second hour seems to crawl a bit in
places. The film is definitely uneven with sections ending too quickly and
some not ending soon enough.
"Blow" is still a very good picture though it wasn't as good as it could
have been. The story of George Jung was interesting up to a point but it
lacked a certain quality to bump it over the top. There were aspects of the
film that were very sharp and inventive but at the end of the day "Blow"
just comes up a little on the weak side. Strong performances and a cool
visual style can only carry things so far. In a period of 2 years when such
exceptional films as "Traffic" and "Requiem for a Dream" dealt with similar
topics "Blow" comes off as a bit of a disappointment. If not for the
release of those films "Blow" wouldn't have had as much to live up to.
Still "Blow" is a strongly acted, though slightly flawed picture.
Movie Rating : 8/10
The DVD
VIDEO:
It's always a pleasure to review New Line discs as the question changes
from "Will this disc have a excellent transfer?" to "How excellent will the
transfer be?. New Line is one studio whose discs constantly average a "9"
on my video rating scale. It doesn't matter what banner the disc is
released under be it Standard or Platinum New Line's video transfers rarely
disappoint. After a somewhat disappointing start transfer wise to the
"InfiniFilm Series" with "Thirteen Days", New Line is back on track with
"15 Minutes" and now "Blow".
"Blow" is presented in it's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is enhanced
for anamorphic displays. Director Ted Demme has created a visually stylish
film that incorporates numerous different looks all of which mesh together
quite nicely on this DVD. The film is set over the course of 3 decades each
with their own unique look. The 60's with a soft focus look, the 70's with
their vibrant disco era colors and the blue tinged 80s. Colors are sharp
and well saturated though at times they appear soft and muted as intended
by the director. For the most part the image is razor sharp and free of
grain. When grain is seen it appears to be used intentionally. The only
real problem that's worth mentioning is some very minor pixelation and
shimmering. The print is free of print flaws, dust, scratches and edge
enhancement. Elements of this transfer that could normally be considered
problematic like a soft quality to the picture or an overly tweaked picture
hue are all stylistic choices by the director and this disc remains
accurate to the look the film had in the theater. New Line does another
excellent job here on this very unique visual film.
Video Rating : 9/10
SOUND:
New Line Home Entertainment presents "Blow" in Dolby Digital 5.1. As
"Blow" is a character driven drama I wasn't expecting anything overly
special in the audio department. However New Line has given me a very
pleasant surprise as "Blow" has a nice and active 5.1 audio mix that rivals
some of the more creative mixes I've heard. From the opening credits one
can tell that they're not going to just be watching the events occur but
they will feel as if they are right there. Both the front and rear
speakers are used quite effectively to carry both the classic rock score
and the sound effects. Stereo imaging and separation is bang on with the
front speakers having a large open landscape for the sounds to travel
within. The 70's rock music score sounds great and is really loud in the
mix. The rear speakers are used for fly-over effects and ambient sounds.
Dialogue is easy to understand and is placed not only in the center channel
but also on occasion in the rear speakers. When the dialogue is placed in
the rear speakers it's used to allow the viewer to hear an off-screen
conversation and not just as a gimmick. The LFE channel is quite active
adding a powerful low end to the music and the more action oriented
scenes. It's rare when a dialogue and event driven film like "Blow" is
given a powerful mix as mixes of this caliber are usually reserved for
action films. I must give New Line a huge round of applause for their mix
here. Unlike previous Infinifilm titles "Blow" also includes a Dolby
Digital 2.0 mix for those without full blown 5.1 setups. Though given the
choice this movie screams to be played with in DD 5.1
EXTRAS::
By now just about every DVD collector or fan is aware of the Infinifilm
Series from New Line Home Entertainment. This series which is currently at
the top of New Line's 3 tier system takes the viewer "Beyond the Movie"
by offering information regarding the events that inspired or surrounded
the story. As the 3rd disc in the series the Infifilm features for
"Blow" center around the explosion of the drug industry in the 70s and
80s. As is the case with all Infifilm releases the extra features are split
up into two categories. Infinifilm features which include but are not
limited to documentaries, interviews etc and "All Access Pass" features
which relate directly to the movie and include deleted scenes, commentaries
etc. For the purposes of this review I will use these comment on the
extras based upon these categories.
All Access Pass Features
As is the case with 95% of all current films released to DVD this film
features an audio commentary track. The participants on this track are the
director Ted Demme and the subject of the film George Jung. The track
consists primarily of Demme talking about the technical aspects of the
film's production. Demme is an interesting director but he does appear to
have a bit of an ego problem as he seems to believe that he should be
considered in the same league as P.T Anderson and Spike Jonze. Although he
already has a few films in his belt this is really his first breakout film.
Joining Demme on the track is George Jung whose life the film is based
upon. Jung is still serving time in jail for his drug related offenses and
therefore his comments are edited together from other interviews he had
with Demme surrounding the film. While Demme's comments are interesting
the real highlight of this track is Jung who takes his time to reflect on
his life as it plays out on the screen. An interesting yet sometimes dry
commentary that fans of technical commentaries will enjoy but is not
certainly not for everyone.
A collection of 10 deleted scenes totalling 25 minutes are presented in
rough widescreen form with optional commentary with director Ted
Demme. Most of these scenes dealt with character development and while
they would have been nice to have in the final cut at just over 2 hrs the
film was already running a bit long. One casualty to come out of the
deletion of 2 of these scenes was a smaller role for Cliff Curtis's Pablo
Escobar one of the films more interesting characters. While I would have
liked to see these scenes in the film it's just good to be able to see
Cliff's performance at all.
Character Out takes is an interesting series of clips featuring the stars
of the film talking about what they think about George in character. I'm
not sure what the purpose of filming these was but they are certainly a fun
addition to the disc.
The menu option labelled Production Diary is a series of 12 short
featurettes chronicling certain days on the set hosted by the film's
director Ted Demme. All of these segments are kind of on the short side
running between 1 and 5 minutes each. However for ease of use New Line has
included a "Play All" option. I was a bit disappointed with this particular
feature as New Line who previously put a 70+ minute documentary on the
making of Magnolia on it's DVD could have done something similar here. One
of the problems I think that prevented that from happening here is
licensing rights. If a supplemental feature goes over a certain length all
sorts of additional legal clearances must be acquired. This is why you
often see several short featurettes as opposed to one long documentary on DVDs.
Continuing on we have the theatrical teaser and trailer which in true New
Line fashion are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The teaser trailer for
"Blow" is one of the coolest trailers I've seen in a long making use of the
Stereo MC's song Connected. At just over a minute it's gives the viewer a
look into the movie without giving away the whole film. The theatrical
trailer expands things just a bit but is unable to hit the same notes that
the teaser did. In an odd move I don't recall ever seeing the full length
trailer at the multiplex though I did see the teaser many times leading up
to the release of the film.
Rounding off the "All Access Pass" section of the disc we have the music
video for the Nikka Costa track "Push and Pull" which can also be heard
over the closing credits as well as some filmographies.
Infinifilm : Beyond the Movie Features
The big feature here like all other Infinifilm releases is the inclusion of
the Information Track. When selected, the track provides the viewer with a
blue bar over the bottom of the image at the start of each chapter. The
blue bar contains two options which allow the viewer to access a wealth of
alternate information which can be in the form of interviews, deleted
scenes etc. The concept itself is somewhat cool allowing people to access
information regarding a scene directly from the movie as opposed to from a
menu. The interactivity is there and in general the feature works pretty
well but it just not for me. After having a couple of chances to play with
this option on different discs I've determined that I prefer to watch the
film uninterrupted and access any special content on my own time. On the
other hand the InfiniFilm concept has led to some excellent supplemental
material the likes of which has yet to be rivaled by any other studio.
The best thing to come out of the Infifilm line of discs from New Line have
been the documentaries. Bar none these are amongst the best supplements
I've seen on DVD. The inclusion of these excellent supplements remind
viewers that not everything on DVD has to come from the cookie cutter mold
that is the studio produced fluff promotional piece. The documentaries on
this disc are no exception. "Lost Paradise" leads the pack here and is a
25 minute look at the impact of the drug trade on the country of Columbia.
The documentary contains interviews with people that were both directly and
indirectly impacted by this unexpected economy boom in what was once a cash
poor country. It's not always easy to watch as it contains some disturbing
issues but fans of the film who want more information regarding the back
story of the film will find this of great interest. It should be noted that
this is presented in Spanish with English subtitles. "Addiction : Body and
Soul" is much shorter at around 7 minutes and deals with the medical and
scientific aspects of drug and alcohol addiction. Both are interesting
pieces that provide those who want to learn more about the events
surrounding the film more information without having to even leave the disc.
Concluding this section we have 8 interviews with George Jung conducted by
Ted Demme. These all appear to be part of one large interview that is just
cut up to keep the clips short and subject oriented. Between the 8 clips
George talks about everything from casting to Depp's performance to the
accuracy of the filmed version of his story. In should also be noted that
New Line and Demme were given unprecedented access to the correctional
facility George is sentenced to as all material George contributes to this
DVD was filmed or recorded there.
Also included are DVDrom features including the screenplay for "Blow".
Extras Rating : 9/10
Final Thoughts: "Blow" was a film that I fell under the radar for me initially. The trailer
had me interested in the film but it just wasn't something I gravitated to
come opening weekend. After almost passing it up in the theater I did
eventually see it as part of a "Stay and See" with "One Night At McCools".
Although it's not a perfect picture by any means I wasn't too disappointed
with the final product. "Blow" has it share of problems but is never dull
and boring. New Line does another excellent job on this "Infinifilm series"
title with excellent audio/video quality and quality supplemental features.
If your a fan of the film be sure to pick it up, otherwise you can't go
wrong with a rental of Blow. Another stellar release from New Line.
Disc Rating : 9/10
Review by Mark McLeod, October 16, 2001
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