Blow stars Johnny Depp as ’70s drug czar George Jung. At one point in the movie, Jung tells the audience that if you used cocaine in the late seventies, there was an 80% chance that it came from him. Jung was the first American man to successfully import and distribute Colombian cocaine in the United States. Jung struggles throughout the movie as a man torn between leaving the life of his childhood while keeping his business sense in the midst of utter chaos.

Jung is from the Boston area. He is the son of a hard-working, blue-collar man (Ray Liotta) and a demanding mother (Rachel Griffiths). Young George watches as his father struggles to make ends meet. When his father files for bankruptcy, George decides then and there that he is not going to live his life that way.

Fresh out of high school, George and his childhood friend Tuna (Ethan Suplee) make their way out to California where they meet girls, "free-love" and drugs. Jung meets up with a stewardess named Barbara (Franka Potente) and is introduced to the marijuana scene on the beaches. From Barbara, George is introduced to the king of beach pot, Derek Foreal (played wonderfully by Paul Reubens).

Once George sees the market and the potential that is there he decides to import the marijuana directly from Mexico in Barbara’s unchecked bag. This works wonderfully for the whole gang. From here they begin to send the pot back east to the bored college kids who have nothing better to do.

George and the whole bunch begin to make a lot of money. This attracts the attention of the law, who up to this point have been mysteriously absent from the scene. George lands in jail only to find out news after posting bail that will drastically alter the course of his life.

Back in prison, George ends up befriending a henchman of the most powerful drug lord in all of Colombia, Pablo Escobar, the leader of the Mendillin drug cartel. "I went in with a bachelor’s of marijuana and came out with a doctorate in cocaine," said George of his time in prison.

With this new connection George begins to import cocaine at wholesale cost. George rakes in an income of millions and finds a beautiful Colombian wife (played by Penelope Cruz). With the onset of millions, Jung’s life begins to spin horribly out of control.

The movie is kept afloat by the supporting cast. Ray Liotta playing George’s father is incredible as a man who is not willing to fault his son who is only doing the best that he can. Griffiths as George’s mother is the sad story of a woman disenfranchised by the American Dream.

Penelope Cruz aptly plays the part of a woman who is living the life of a woman no longer human. Cruz portrays a woman who has been replaced by a ghost still holding on to her past glories and even gets George back on the wrong path. Paul Reubens is successful at showing the shallowness of this culture, while putting a recognizable face on drugs.

Yet the movie falters a bit. The movie is about the rise and fall of one of the most powerful drug importers in American history. Yet, all of the sympathy seems to rest with George and not with the people that are being hurt by the work that he is doing. He loses a family and will probably spend the rest of his life behind bars. But, what of the daughter that will never truly know her father?

This movie is about real people who never seem to get around to the real issues. Yes, George has been redeemed, but at the salvation of so many, one has to ask, was it really worth it?