Director: Ted Demme
Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Rachel Griffiths, Ray Liotta
Story rating: 2 1/2 discs (out of 4)
Story review: You may not have heard of George Jung before, but you quickly learn that whoever was doing coke in the ’70s and ’80s (and according to this movie, who wasn’t) was probably sniffing his stuff. This biopic tracks Jung’s travails from his troubled, poor boyhood to his pot-dealing days in California to his life as a millionaire cocaine trafficker for the Colombian Medellin cartel. The party has to end sometime, and for Jung it does when he repeatedly gets busted, eventually loses his family and ultimately destroys his life. Blow‘s first hour or so is breezy fun, but by the end you’re left with a big bag of wind. — Stacie Hougland
Features rating: 2 discs (out of 4)
Features review: There are some real gems among the rest of the costume jewelry feature.
The director’s commentary, aided by snippets from the real George Jung, is long-winded, boring and not particularly insightful. More worthwhile is the “Fast Track” feature, which adds trivia subtitles to the main feature showing.
The George Jung interview is the real gem, though. Seeing the real protagonist talk about some of his experiences with the movie firsthand lends incredible depth to his portrayal by Johnny Depp. Jung’s true personality percolates and rises to the top, overcoming Demme’s shortcomings as an interviewer.
Features of cocaine’s impact on Colombia and addiction may add the realism edge, but fail to deliver the goods.
Still, there are more goodies, such as the character outtakes (small vignettes of the actors in the roles they play talking about their relationships with Jung) and the full-length video of Nikka Costa’s “Push and Pull.”
Bottom line: Blow is one of those movies that seems to get better with age. The special features may not be strong top to bottom, but there is enough good stuff on the DVD to recommend this purchase.
Special features list:
Digitally mastered audio and anamorphic video
Widescreen and full-screen presentation
Audio: English 5.1 (Dolby Digital) and 2-channel (Dolby Surround)
George Jung interviews by director Ted Demme
Lost Paradise: cocaine’s impact on Colombia
Addiction: body and soul
Fast Track: trivia subtitle track with direct access to additional features
Commentary with director Ted Demme and George Jung
Deleted scenes with director’s commentary
Character outtakes
Ted Demme’s production diary
Nikka Costa music video–“Push and Pull”
Teaser and theatrical trailers
Cast and crew filmographies
Script to screen access
Link to original Web site
