| BLOW |
| BLOW is about the rise and fall of George Jung, provider of more than 2/3 of California's supply of drugs in the 70s. The whole show goes about nicely: it is only often that film biographies suffer from a boring pace and vapid screenplays. Thankfully, BLOW moves fast enough not to bore. But with that comes the problem of shallow characterisation. Details are sometimes sketchy. For dealing with such an interesting era, BLOW did not milk the glitz for all its worthed. It sorely lacks the sensivity of epics like Boogie Nights or the flamboyance of Velvet Goldmine. Despite this, the ensemble of supporting cast had put up strong performances. Franke Potente (Run Lola Run) was understatedly and unrecognisably beautiful as Jung's first wife. Rachel Griffith (Hilary and Jackie), always an actress to watch, hamming it up as Jung's disapproving mother. And Penelope Cruz (All About My Mother) must have had so much fun sheding her usual demure image to become a hedonistic bitch in BLOW. There are some nice editing sequences: experiments with form and narration flow. One scene of drug arrangement was used twice: once, when Jung first cut his big deal, and again, after he came out of prison. Good use of repitition to imply his failure to escape a life of crimes. The underlying theme, unfortunately, was too subtle to be effective. The dig at cosummerism in America was only curtly referred to in the courtroom scene. Instead, Jung having to face his fears of following his parents' footsteps were more real, frightening and poignant. A tad predictable and trite, but still recommended. ~hitlerberries |
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