Traffic

December 11, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 147 min Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Director Steven Soderbergh has himself a genuine masterpiece with this one. After having seen and heard numerous “picture of the year” comments, my expectations were rather high going into the theater and, I’m glad to say, I wasn’t disappointed.

Traffic

There is no one single plot in “Traffic,” rather there are multiple small plot lines that sometimes intersect, but most times do not. Soderbergh zooms in on three locations: Tijuana, Mexico; San Diego, California, and Washington, D.C. He uses some very unique cinematography in each location so that we feel as well as see the entirety of the illegal drug trade in the U.S. as well as the efforts spent trying to combat it.

In Mexico we get to see the efforts of a local policeman (Del Toro) and his partner as they intersect with a General Salazar (Tomas Milian), who wishes to destroy one of the two big Mexican drug cartels. Look for an Oscar nomination for Del Toro.

In San Diego, the paths of a DEA investigative duo (Cheadle, Luis Guzman) cross with a drug dealer (Miguel Ferrer), a wealthy drug kingpin posing as a legitimate businessman (Steven Bauer), and his ignorant upper-crust wife (Zeta-Jones).

Lastly, in Washington, Douglas portrays a well-meaning judge who has just been appointed our nation’s new “Drug Czar”. His addict daughter (Christensen) causes more than just a little turmoil in the family. Christensen, in fact, may also be headed for an Oscar nomination for her brutally realistic portrayal of an addict.

Along the way, in all three locations, we are introduced to dozens more characters, each essential to their little part of the story. Soderbergh, by some small miracle, manages to keep this potential “character soup” completely coherent and the end result is nothing short of amazing.

Near the end of the movie, I was half expecting some sort of “message” to be delivered by one of the actors but, surprisingly, the movie ended on just a low a key as it started. Some would say that Soderbergh made this movie to preach for the legalization of drugs but they would be wrong. Soderbergh, in fact, has voiced an opposition to the legalization of drugs. He simply tries to show the situation for what it is so you can then decide for yourself.

For me, it confirms what I suspected all along; that the “war on drugs” is not something we can win. As always, however, your mileage may vary.

Posted by Alex | Filed Under 5 Stars, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle, Drama, Erika Christensen, Michael Douglas, R, Theatrical