Blow (2001)

This is a very slow-moving film. Although the story is well told and Johnny Depp is a very good actor, not very much seems to happen. Characters appear and disappear, love and betray, but somehow none if it really reaches us. The most moving moment of the film is the final monologue by Jung. I was struck by the way he counters the mantra of so many party movies and even serious dramas of the day. He indicates he's lived life, he's taken chances, he's not let life pass him by... but then he looks at the place those chances have brought him, and it wasn't worth it. When the message of the era is "do whatever you want, as long as you're living your life to the fullest," it was a surprising and poignant response to that. Overall, however, the movie is just too flat to make much of an impression. A disappointment. 2.5 stars.