It might seem like a potential Oscar contender, especially when compared to the rest of the slop released so far this year, but Blow just doesn't measure up to the similarly themed Traffic, or the sweeping scope of Boogie Nights, which also featured a male character's evolution from a naïve boy into a cynical adult.  Instead of presenting a fictional Dirk Diggler, Blow is the true story of George Jung, who became Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar's main U.S. cocaine distributor.

Blow's slick opening credits show the journey cocaine takes from the fields of Columbia into Johnny Depp's nose.  Depp (Chocolat) plays George and narrates the film as his character, who tells us the story of his life from a federal penitentiary.  We begin with George's childhood outside Boston, where his mother (Rachel Griffiths, Blow Dry) constantly runs away from home and his dad (Ray Liotta, Heartbreakers) has some pretty serious money problems, which we're led to believe is the motivation for George's career choices.

When he's old enough, George moves to Cali with buddy Tuna (Ethan Suplee, Remember the Titans) and starts selling pot he scores from SoCal's burgeoning supplier Derek Foreal (Paul Reubens, Mystery Men).  Learning he's a remarkably gifted salesman with an equally remarkable product, George branches his operation out to the East Coast and frequently deals with hundreds of pounds of herb he obtains from Mexican farmers.

After a bust and brief imprisonment, George promotes himself from weed to cocaine, with the help of former Colombian cellmate Diego (Jordi Mollà).  He works his way into Escobar's (Cliff Curtis, Bringing Out the Dead) Medellin cartel, where he controls about 85% of the United States coke import business.  George also meets, falls in love with and marries a hot tamale named Mirtha (Penélope Cruz, All the Pretty Horses).  And then, predictably, the wheels start to fall off.

The main problem with Blow is that the story just isn't that exciting.  It's the tale of a guy I've never heard of and knew nothing about, yet it was easy to see what was going to happen long before it did.  The ending is a little too sappy (are we supposed to feel sorry for this guy?), and the whole thing plays like a weak version of GoodFellas, but with a focus on drugs instead of the Mafia.  It's director Ted Demme's (Life) best work to date, but parts of the film feel like he's showing off, throwing every cinematic technique at the screen and emerging a bit like a Guy Ritchie-style showoff.

But there are plenty of positive things about Blow, too.  It's got all the great music and silly clothes you'd expect from a period film like this (Depp's hair gets more and more ridiculous as the film progresses – at one point, he streaks through an airport looking like the twin brother of Urge Overkill's Nash Kato).  Depp, Griffiths and Liotta do well with grating Boston accents, and the makeup department does a great job at aging those three characters (although they could have just used Skeet Ulrich to play a young Depp).  This is Depp's best non-Tim Burton performance since Donnie Brasco, and Blow also marks the American film debut of Franka Potente (Lola from Run Lola Run), who plays George's girlfriend early in the film.

Blow was based on Bruce Porter's book and adapted for the screen by David McKenna (Get Carter) and Nick Cassavetes (Unhook the Stars).  It's nicely photographed by Ellen Kuras (Summer of Sam) and features some nifty editing by Kevin Tent (Election).

2:04 -

for pervasive drug content and language, some violence and sexuality