Blow, Indeed
FILM: Blow (R)
DIRECTOR: Ted Demme
STARRING: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz
WHERE: Wide release
GRADE: C+
|
|
Ain’t life grand? George Jung (Johnny Depp, right) and his wife, Mirtha (Penelope Cruz), live high on the profits of coke dealing in Blow.
|
Endearing archetypal characters enjoy the sweet smell of success from, then come crashing down because of, morally questionable behavior, as the turn of the decade foreshadows nothing but misfortune.
Goodfellas? Boogie Nights? Haven’t we been down this road enough already? In Blow, a sometimes-interesting look at the rise in popularity of cocaine through the eyes of its chief American exporter, director Ted Demme proves you can in fact go to Martin Scorcese’s well too many times. Sheesh, he even telegraphs his grand larceny by recruiting the star of Goodfellas, Ray Liotta, for a supporting role, showing once again that Demme — nephew and distinctly less-talented nephew of Jonathan Demme — has all the subtlety of the MTV videos he used to direct.
Sure, Demme brings to life the true story of George Jung, who graduated from importing marijuana in the 1970s to cocaine in the ’80s. And in Johnny Depp, he provides a human a face to such a dubious criminal figure — a fairly likeable one at that. And yes, he even throws in the stunning Penelope Cruz for good measure.
But where, oh where, is the art? The originality? It’s one thing to take a candid, darkly funny and often ironic look at life inside the mob. And it’s another thing to bring humanity to a bunch of porn stars. Both Goodfellas and Boogie Nights featured interesting, surprisingly sympathetic characters and compelling ideas about trying to survive in a hypocritical, uptight society. They are supreme archetypal stories of American success that make us question our sense of right and wrong.
In Blow, Demme’s either backing the wrong horse or simply does not have what it takes to truly bring a story — or even a character — to life. Of course, this is the same director whose previous films generally only feature solid acting — consider Life (Eddy Murphy and Martin Lawrence) and The Ref (Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis). Demme’s good at cueing scenes and emotions with period music (who doesn’t these days?) and tossing in the occasional novelty like a collage of snapshots for montage effect. He even borrows from Goodfellas’ voice-over narration. Great. But as for the heart of this film, don’t bother looking; it’s lost up someone’s nose.
As a kid growing up in Massachusetts, George Jung knew what it was like to be poor and beaten down. He watched as his father (Liotta, playing admirably against type) lost his business and his self-respect in front of his shrewish mother (Rachel Griffiths, who doesn’t have quite the same nuance of character). So George does what any kid with half a brain would do in the late 1960s: He moves to L.A., grabs a blonde girlfriend (Franka Potente) and starts hauling pot in from Mexico.
Next thing he knows, George becomes a success, and even though his father disapproves, he admires his son’s moxy. The cops don’t, however, and before he knows it George is busted for dealing and winds up in prison. While there, he is befriended by a Colombian (Jordi Molla) who learns of his importing reputation and strikes up a partnership that will reach historic proportions. His friend introduces him to Pablo Escobar, the leader (until his recent arrest) of the infamous Medellin drug cartel.
From there, George becomes one of the key players in America’s love affair with cocaine, steals a rival’s girl (Cruz) and marries her, and spends the rest of his life (and the movie) getting into and out of trouble. We’ve seen it all before: bad judgment, bad luck, bad future. That just about wraps it up.
Demme portrays George Jung as just a blue-collar kid trying to avoid the lower-middle-class fate of his parents while trying to be a likeable businessman. And what’s not to like? He overpays his partners, he knows when he’s snorted too much, and really, he just wants enough money to makes things right with his daughter.
Welcome, ladies and gentleman, to the coke dealer with a heart of gold.
Depp and Demme work their tails off trying to make Jung a sympathetic character who really does want to get out of the business but just can’t; he’s a victim of circumstance and bad instincts. To this we want to say … um … tough shit. Get a (legal) job. By the end of the film, you want either a hitman or the federal government to put him out of his (and our) misery. As a friend once said to herself toward the end of The Perfect Storm, “Die already.”
Depp, along with fellow cast members Cruz, Potente, Paul Reubens and others, are doing the best they can with what they got. But with Ted Demme as the main dealer, Blow only lives up to its title.
|
