Why work when you can just sell pot?
As a kid, George decided that the difficulties of living an honest life weren’t for him. George watched as his mother berate his father for not providing like she expected he would. George watched as his father lost his job, and had to scrape by to make ends meet. When he grew up, George took a very different path.
Moving from Boston to the beaches of California, it didn’t take long for George to figure out how he would make his life. Through some seedy connections, George started selling pot. Life seemed good, what he didn’t sell he smoked. Living on the beach, this seemed to be the life.
Perhaps it was for some, but George Jung was too ambitious to live the stoner beach bum life and be satisfied. He wanted more. Soon, through a chance encounter with a friend from back home, George upscaled his operation back to the east coast. He was raking in the cash with help from his girlfriend, a childhood friend, and a few other buddies.
Things seemed pretty good, but George Jung was too ambitious to be satisfied with his national drug distribution ring. He wanted to cut out the middle man and take all the profits for himself… so George started smuggling from Mexico. George became international, and was raking in the cash. Things seemed great, as George was making money hand over fist. Everything was great, until the DEA stepped in… and George ended up in prison.
Why just sell pot when you can traffic cocaine?
Why would an entrepreneur like George Jung waste his time in prison? Instead of pissing and moaning over circumstance, George used his time to master his craft by networking with other prisoners. George made a contact who encouraged him to step up his game. Why just sell pot when you can traffic cocaine?
Over the next several years George built an empire. By networking with Columbian cartels, and using his friends whom he met while selling pot, and moving an obscene amount of blow, George helped make cocaine a craze in America in the 1970s and 1980s.
This is where I’ll leave you. If you want to know what happens to George, you’ll just have to watch this movie. What I will say is that the ending satisfies showing what ambition can yield when it’s selfish in nature.
Special Features
- Watch vintage footage as you watch the movie
- Commentary by director Ted Demme and the actual George Jung
- Deleted Scenes
- Character Outtakes
- Ted Demme’s Production Diary
- Nikki Costa Push and Pull Music Video
- George Jung Interviews by Director Ted Demme
- Lost Paradise: Cocaine’s Impact on Columbia
- Addiction: Body and Soul
- Fact Track: Trivia Subtitle Track With Direct Access to Additional Features
- Theatrical Trailers