Today on TV: In this stylish true crime thriller, Johnny Depp embarks on an incredible criminal career

‘Blow’ was the most elaborately made and perhaps the best film by ‘Beautiful Girls’ and ‘Life Sentence’ director Ted Demme, who unfortunately died far too early at the age of 38. The leading role is played by Johnny Depp, who portrays the protagonist of one of the most astonishing criminal careers in criminal history in the lively mix of emotional biopic, humorous environmental study and exciting thriller.

“Blow” will be broadcast today, January 9, 2024, in prime time at 8:15 PM on Tele 5. There will be a repeat that same evening at 2am. If these dates don’t suit you or you’d prefer to enjoy work without commercial interruptions, you can stream the film at any time as part of your Netflix subscription. You can also order the Blu-ray or DVD from online stores such as Amazon. The FSK 12 title is also available there as video-on-demand for a fee.

“Blow” on Tele 5: that’s the story

More by chance than by master plan, George Jung (Johnny Depp) becomes the biggest drug smuggler in American criminal history in the 1970s. It all starts when he and his equally work-shy buddy Tuna (Ethan Suplee) convince some flight attendants, like George’s girlfriend Barbara (Franka Potente), to bring small amounts of marijuana into the country from Mexico for them.

When George eventually realizes that he can make good money with this, he professionalizes his extra income. Soon he is a rich man and not only the police, but also the largest drug cartel in South America around the infamous Pablo Escobar (Cliff Curtis) becomes aware of him. Instead of some drugs, George is soon transporting plane loads of cocaine.

Within a very short time, he made $60 million. George has rarely been happy since the sudden death of his great love Barbara. For example, when he marries the beautiful, but not particularly easy to care for, Colombian Mirtha (Penélope Cruz), who is expecting children soon. But these are only brief moments of lightness. Not only is Escobar putting more and more pressure on him, but the police are also getting closer to him…

Johnny Depp is the main attraction

The star of the film was, of course, Johnny Depp, who reached one of his career peaks in 2001, shortly after stellar performances in ‘Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’. The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ superstar clearly enjoyed performing in all the crazy situations and scenarios ‘Blow’ had to throw at him. He was clearly having fun, especially with the cool outfits and weird hairstyles his character got to wear here. But all the more because of the dry statements he could express as someone who did not lose his cool even in court or in prison.

Johnny Depp was certainly not the only big name in the cast. First and foremost is of course Penélope Cruz (“Vanilla Sky”, “Volver”). Franka Potente (“Run Lola Run”), one of the biggest names in recent German cinema, also took part in her first English-language performance. And Cliff Curtis, a key player in the blockbuster “Avatar,” was represented. There was also Rachel Griffiths (“Sixth Feet Under”), Cruz’s Spanish compatriot Jordi Mollà (“Bad Boys II”), “My Name Is Earl” crowd favorite Ethan Suplee, Jaime King from “Sin City”, who is still very popular at the time was the young Emma Roberts (“American Horror Story”) and the late “GoodFellas” veteran Ray Liotta, who gave a great performance.

Depp, of course, had the film’s best moments. But his co-stars were also all given at least one chance to shine through director Ted Demme and the script written by David McKenna (“American History appropriately thoughtful or even sad. And all this without interrupting the flow of the story or making it seem episodic.

‘Blow’ is certainly not a perfect film – our FILMSTARTS review, which still gives it three and a half good stars, quickly makes that clear. But if you can overcome the smaller weaknesses mentioned there, the spectacle is great fun. Our author Carsten Baumgardt compares ‘Blow’ more to Paul Thomas Anderson’s brilliant ‘Boogie Nights’ than to Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar winner ‘Traffic’, released just a year earlier, in terms of attitude towards the potentially sensitive subject. And this despite the fact that the first was about the porn industry and the second was also about large-scale drug smuggling.

The music contributes greatly to the often relaxed, cool, then exciting and later quite melancholic atmosphere of the film. The soundtrack to ‘Blow’ consists almost entirely of classic rock songs from the era in which the action takes place. We hear hits, but also some lesser-known titles from acts such as the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Cream, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Almost every scene with a song could serve as a music video for that track from a purely visual and emotional point of view – also because the cuts by editor-in-chief Kevin Tent (“Rained – Girl Interrupted”) often cleverly follow the tempo, sometimes even immediately following the beat of the number, adapted to the number in question.

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