Good movie. After researching, I am very pleased they stayed true to the real life story. This was mainly due to the involvement of Johnny Depp. They did want to take a lot more liberties with the narrative and imprint that typical Hollywood touch on it before he stepped in. That is ok if you are changing this partially for dramatic purposes. However, I, personally, hate it when they change too many things, as it doesn't do the "true story" any justice. So, a big thanks to Johnny Depp and his insight and professionalism that contributed to this being 95% accurate.
Diego Delgado (the character they based on the real life Carlos Lehder) did force out Jung, but this made Jung's own ties and deals with Pablo even closer, as the cartel never liked Lehder. Jung was busted for possession of several pounds of cocaine, that actually was at a birthday party (not sure if it was his?).
However, not shown in this film was the details of his deal-How Jung was instructed to testify against Diego (Carlos Lehder) in real life in exchange for a reduced sentence. He refused to rat because of the repercussions he would face from Pablo after witnessing a man get shot in Colombia for his betrayal to Escobar (when Jung met Pablo-depicted in the film at the start). He then changed his mind and was encouraged to testify against Carlos Lehder (Diego) by Pablo Escobar himself as Lehder was negotiating his own deal and going to rat on Pablo and the cartel, hence Jung testifying would destroy Lehders credibility. After his release for testifying, he in the end got screwed over by a former friend working with the D. E. A.
A truly great story and film that deserves credit for sticking to the truth. Great performance by Johnny Depp and overall, it was a well directed movie. An interesting snapshot of the crazy life of George Jung. It is mental to see how drastically different people's lives can be, I find stories like these to be fascinating, true story movies done right are often up there as one of the best genres in film. Certainly, one of my favourite genres. A stellar effort!
Diego Delgado (the character they based on the real life Carlos Lehder) did force out Jung, but this made Jung's own ties and deals with Pablo even closer, as the cartel never liked Lehder. Jung was busted for possession of several pounds of cocaine, that actually was at a birthday party (not sure if it was his?).
However, not shown in this film was the details of his deal-How Jung was instructed to testify against Diego (Carlos Lehder) in real life in exchange for a reduced sentence. He refused to rat because of the repercussions he would face from Pablo after witnessing a man get shot in Colombia for his betrayal to Escobar (when Jung met Pablo-depicted in the film at the start). He then changed his mind and was encouraged to testify against Carlos Lehder (Diego) by Pablo Escobar himself as Lehder was negotiating his own deal and going to rat on Pablo and the cartel, hence Jung testifying would destroy Lehders credibility. After his release for testifying, he in the end got screwed over by a former friend working with the D. E. A.
A truly great story and film that deserves credit for sticking to the truth. Great performance by Johnny Depp and overall, it was a well directed movie. An interesting snapshot of the crazy life of George Jung. It is mental to see how drastically different people's lives can be, I find stories like these to be fascinating, true story movies done right are often up there as one of the best genres in film. Certainly, one of my favourite genres. A stellar effort!