When a book is made into a movie, many things are left out. The movie may depict characters in a completely different way than the novel. Another thing that may be changed during production is theme. A movie version of a novel might not include a big theme of a novel or the movie may have a completely different theme than the novel. In most movies, scenes are deleted or completely made up in order to make the movie more entertaining and to get the story told quickly. Like any movie based on a book, there are some differences in the movie Blow. Examples of differences are some characters have been changed and some have been added, also many scenes and events from the book are left out, and finally some scenes have been completely changed from the novel to the film.
There is one character in the movie that was completely made up. Her name is Barbara Buckley. She plays George’s first real girlfriend. She is added to help show the theme - money is not everything. During the movie, she gets cancer and is told that she only has around a half of a year left. As a result, George takes a break from smuggling drugs into the United States and moves down to Mexico, because this is the only place he can live freely. This is one of the first times that George puts love before money. If he would have stayed in the United Sates then he would have been sentenced to a couple months in jail instead of the mandatory three year sentence. He would also make millions of dollars as a result of staying in the United States. He decides to stay with Barbra and the two of them live in Mexico until she dies. This is a prime example of putting love before money.
Generally movies tend to make major changes in characters. For example in a novel a character might be serious, but in the movie the character is funny to make the movie more interesting. George’s parents were excellently portrayed in the movie. In the movie his father, Fred, always tries to tell his son that money does not matter. In every scene, he behaves just like the book described him. The book describes him as an honest man that loves his son no matter what. He does not condone what his son does for a living, but he is proud his son is able to live a nice life. Fred shows this when he says, “Stop lying I know where you are getting the money from. I’m not mad. Did I want a different life for you then this? Yes. But, I’m proud of you, you’re doing well” (200). In the novel he says this to his son while visiting his vast new estate. The movie version of this scene is the exact same way. In addition to George’s father, the movie version of his mother, Ermine Jung, is portrayed in the movie just like she is in the book. She cares about her son in a different way than his father. Ermine does not agree with what he does, but unlike her husband, she is willing to hand George over to the F.B.I. She also wants to be accepted in the community and thinks that George’s illegal activity hurts her social status. This is shown when he is being arrested by the FBI. One night George shows up for a surprise visit. He and his dad are having a drink and catching up on old times and his mom disappears into the next room. All of the sudden, the FBI and police are at the door ready to arrest him. While they are walking him out to the car, his mother says, “Everyone knows you’re a drug dealer. How do you think that makes me look? I had to do it George”(119). By saying this she shows that she does not agree with what he does and is disappointed because his actions have affected her social status. Fred and Ermine both cared about their son, but show it in different ways and this is shown both in the novel and the movie. Fred believes that George will figure out he is heading down the wrong path by himself, and Ermine feels that her son will not learn from his mistakes unless he goes to jail.
One theme of the novel is that the only life that can make a person truly happy is one that involves working hard and living a wholesome life. The novel emphasizes this theme several times. For example George often talked about things his dad told him when he was a child. One thing his father would tell him constantly was that there are rewards for hard work and living a wholesome life. “Driving home, he would talk about the merits of a wholesome life, and working hard all day long” (23). This is a comment Fred made to George while on their way home from working in Boston. This scene was not in the movie, but it should have been because the movie only touches on this theme at the end when George looks back on his life. The movie did not do a great job of getting this message to the audience, but the ending that they used definitely allowed the viewer to come to the conclusion that a wholesome life is the best way to go if they take time to think about it. In the long run, a life of crime and drugs does not pay. A person who leads a life of crime will end up paying for in the long run.
During the climax of both the novel and movie, George finds himself as rich and powerful as Tony Montana in the movie “Scarface”. Both versions show that even though he has the money, the power, and the drugs, he is not happy. In fact in the novel, he comes out and says:
“You know, I mean--you know, like in "Scarface", just dump it. You wanted this whole table filled with cocaine; I'll fill it three feet high. Who the hell cares? Snort it. Stay here twenty days if you want. I don't care. Burn some money in the fireplace, f--k it, you know, I mean--it all meant nothing. It was insanity. The money meant nothing. After a while, the cocaine--I didn't have any friends, you know. I was just alone and I didn't even like myself” (250).
He does not say this at any point in the movie, not even when he tells about his life while he was on top. However, the movie did show this in several scenes. For example in one scene, he breaks down and locks himself in his room for a couple days after he realizes he is not truly happy. One of the most import quotes in the novel and movie is a piece of advice George gets from his dad. “Money isn’t real. It doesn’t matter. It only seems like it does” (15). This is word for word what Fred told George when he was little. Fred could tell that even as a little kid George tended to care about money. George says that he wants to be super rich when he grows up and not end up in the same situation as his family. Fred’s goal when he said this was to get George to realize how good of a life he has even though his family is going through hard times and has little money. The end of the movie did a fantastic job of getting this message across. They use the real tape that George made for his dad while he was in jail. The tape was a way for George to say sorry and goodbye to his father, who was growing very sick and expected to die at any moment. One line of the tape states, “And remember that time when you told me that money wasn't real. Well old man, I'm 42 years old, and I finally realize what you were trying to tell me, so many years ago. I finally understand” (301). Both the movie and the book share the same ending, and this is very important because it gets the message of money not being important across to anyone that did not catch that during the movie or while reading the novel. Most movies that are made from long serious books are not great because they have to leave scenes out. They usually add things to the movie that are not in the book. Scenes of comedy or action are added to make the movie more entertaining, so they can make more money. The movie like the book was heavy in drama and did not have any scenes added just to make the movie more entertaining. There were not any significant changes between the novel and the movie. Both had the same themes and the movie did a good job of sending the viewer the same feelings that they get from reading the book.