On Wednesday, April 4, New Line Studio’s latest film, Blow, was shown to UNC Charlotte students in a free, advance screening in McKnight Hall. The film stars Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ray Liotta, Rachel Griffins, Frank Potente and Paul Reubens and is directed by Ted Demme.

"Blow" is a slang term for cocaine, which you probably know, unless you have lived a very sheltered life. Drugs are pretty much what the movie is about. This film is based on the true story of George Jung (Depp), the man who in the 70’s and 80’s was responsible for almost all of the cocaine that hit the United States. The actions of this one man’s life have affected all of us in America. Jung is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence and is due for release in 2015, but his life story will be playing in theaters everywhere starting this Friday, April 6.

The film begins in the late 40’s and early 50’s, when Jung is a young boy growing up in a lower, middle-class family in Massachusetts. His father, played by Ray Liotta (Goodfellas, Hannibal), is a hardworking construction worker who deeply cares for his wife and son, George. In pursuit of the American Dream, the family struggles, but Jung’s father is strong and goodhearted. He tries to teach his son that "money isn’t real" and love for your family is more important. Throughout the film, Liotta and Depp have good on-screen chemistry and the father-son scenes are moving. Jung’s mother, played by Rachel Griffins, is mean, materialistic, uncaring, scared and self-centered. The color of the film also changes throughout the time periods of Jung’s life, giving the film a more authentic look beginning with the early scenes.

Soon Jung is a young man and goes to California with a buddy to get away from home in pursuit of happiness. New friends introduce them to Mary Jane, or should I say marijuana, for the first time. Here also enters Jung’s first love, whom you would expect to be played by Penelope Cruz, but no; and a gay, pot-smoking, small-time drug dealing hairdresser named Derek, played by none other than Paul Reubens (Pee Wee’s Playhouse, Spy Kids). Except for a few scenes involving Jung’s pot-smoking friends and Depp’s one-liners, which draw a few laughs, this movie is straight drama about drug dealing and love for family.

The small band of friends, with nothing better to do, contemplate the idea of trafficking pot from California to college students back east. By this time, the audience has gotten to know Jung and the idea of him pursuing the American Dream is cool, even if it is by means of dealing drugs.

Along the way, other important characters are introduced, such as Diego Delgado (Jordi Molla) who is Jung’s first prison-mate and is also in prison for drug dealing. Delgado informs Jung that he failed because he "had the wrong dream."

Soon after, the scene is Catagona, Columbia, and the game is cocaine.

Jung goes big time in the pursuit of his new dream and he and Delgado become partners with the infamous Pablo Escobar, played by Cliff Curtis, who is the Mohammed Ali of cocaine dealers.

About an hour into the movie, Penelope Cruz finally appears playing the role of Mirtha, Jung’s future wife. The two meet like a couple in a fairy tale story or a romance movie, but by now in the film, you wonder how big of a role she really plays. If you want to see the incredibly beautiful Cruz in an outstanding performance, wait and see her in another role. This was the biggest disappointment of the movie.

Overall, I was fairly indifferent about the film, but most of the audience seemed to like it. It reminds me of the films Boogie Nights and Goodfellas. If you like drama and are interested in the history of the drug-selling business, then check it out. The drug deal scenes were very realistic, Depp delivers a good performance as George Jung and Liotta is memorable as his father.

The movie is rated R for pervasive drug content, strong language and some violence and sexuality.