Traffic--A+
Starring: Michael Douglas, Erika Christensen, Catherine Zeta Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman, Steven Bauer, Jacob Vargas, Clifton Collins, Jr., Topher Grace, Dennis Quaid, and Miguel Ferrer
Written By: Stephen Gahgan
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
Rated R for language, brief nudity, and violence


Steven Soderbergh's lastest film tells three stories. Seemingly having nothing in common except that each one of them revolves around drugs. They take place in three different locations in North American (Ohio, California, and Mexico), and involve three different types of people. It's a vast ensemble drama that makes a case for the destructiveness of drugs, and it's a solid case at that.

The film starts out in Mexico. It shows two state police, Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez (Del Toro) and Malono Sanchez (Vargas) who are stopping a truckload full of cocaine from coming through to Mexico. The people in the truck are cuffed and taken off to jail, while Javier is commended by General Arturo Salazar (Tomas Milian), and is asked for his services in trying to bring down a drug cartel by getting to it's main dealer, Fracisco Flores (Collins, Jr.).

We are then introduced to Robert Wakefield (Douglas) who has just been appointed the U.S. drug czar. When his daughter Caroline (Christensen) ends up in jail for using freebased drugs and cocaine, Robert and his wife Barbara (Irving) have to come up with a way to deal with it. They ground her. When she is caught using in the house, she is sent to rehab, and quickly escapes to end up a prostitute so she can get a quick fix.

Then, we are taken into the high maintenance world of Carlos and Helena Ayala (Stephen Bauer and Catherine Zeta-Jones, repectively). With one son and a baby on the way, Carlos is taken away because he is ratted out by Eduardo Ruiz (Ferrer) as being a drug kingpin and masking it by running a fake business. Two cops, Montel Gordon (Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Guzman) show up to keep tabs on Helena while her husband is in jail. While at the park one day, Helena's son is held hostage for a few moments while she is told that because of her husband, she owes 3 million dollars. So, in a desperate attempt to come up with the money, she takes over her husbands position as the drug dealer.

Similar to last year's Magnolia as it uses a large ensemble to tell its story, it's different in that it's characters only share the common bond of drugs and we know that they have met each other only through name-dropping. The film has no significant great meaning other than "drugs are bad". But how it gets its point that "drugs are bad" across is where the greatness lies.

People I know have attacked the film for a scene where it shows teens drinking and doing drugs, something you will find in any teen movie, but it's more graphic here. They have said it glorifies and will ultimately contribute to teen drug use and abuse. But, I find that to be entirely false. If you look at the film as a whole, you will see that that scene is cautionary in context. Watch as one kid in the sequence overdoses on his drugs. And in the end, another becomes a prostitute to get her drugs. This is not the glorification of anything, my friends, this is brutal reality. I've heard that Requiem For a Dream (which never made it to my neck of the woods) is pretty graphic in its depictions, so compared to that, maybe this is a bit tame. I do see it as hard hitting and a good wake-up call the youth and elders of America. Those people that wish to turn the other cheek to a very real problem. Traffic brings this issues out into the mainstream and does so with astounding force and in an extremely bold manner. This is a real problem.

One thing that I absolutely loved about the film is that it doesn't try to just be a message movie (which, ultimately, it is), but it strives to be more than that. It strives to be a stirring drama that works on many more levels than just your average film about the effects that drugs (mainly cocaine) can have on your life. For this, I admire Mr. Soderbergh and Mr. Gahgan.

Probably the most powerful, thought-provoking, and moving films of the year 2000, Traffic steams ahead and tells its tales with well-realized performances and a distinct visual flair. I'll touch on that distinct visual flair first.

Steven Soderbergh is probably one of the most visual directors out there. With a string of movies that goes Out of Sight, The Limey, Erin Brockovich, and Traffic, you can't help but admire the man. The Limey used a dull color pallet and amazing editing to tell its story. Out of Sight used effective jump cutting. Erin Brockovich is probably his most muted film in terms of style. Then, here comes Traffic. Shot by Soderbergh himself, each story has it's own different look. In Mexico, the look is very stingy. Almost like a documentary you might watch in science class. The bright colors are brought out (like the sun and such), and everything else is slightly blurry, giving you the effect of a hazy, Mexican day. In Ohio, we have a blue-tinted steely effect that calls to mind the look of Brian Helgeland's 1998 feature Payback, and in California, we get an orange-ish tint. All of this works impeccibly well when transitioning from story to story, keeping us on the right foot the whole time.

Every member of this massive ensemble give effective performances. The 'Big Four' (Douglas, Zeta-Jones, Del Toro, and Christensen) all aquit themselves wonderfully. Douglas is forceful throughout and caring at the end. He wants to get to know his daughter, and he gets this through her drug problem. A busy man having just been appointed as the national drug czar, he spends less and less time at home. His wife thinks he needs to "pencil in a little 'face time'" with his family. Zeta-Jones is brazenly aggressive in her role that requires more range than her other films: Entrapment and The Mask of Zorro. This is her second quality film/performance of 2000 (the other being High Fidelity). Benicio Del Toro (who starred with Alicia Silverstone in Excess Baggage) brings conviction to his role as a corrupt cop. Erika Christensen is brilliant as a troubled, drug-obsessed child. Her work here is a wonderful concoction of emotion and art. Truly, one of the year's best breakout performances.

The supporting cast is great. Amy Irving shows great restraint as Douglas' wife. Collins Jr. is calmly manipulative. Ferrer also gives a great performance. The film's comic relief comes in the form of Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman. While nothing in the film is actually funny, these two are the only ones with character that let them have a little fun...at times.

All in all, Traffic is an immense achievement that all involved should be proud of. This truly is the best film of the year 2000.


-Brian Jones, 2000
-If you would like to comment on this review, please e-mail me at SilentCynic15@cs.com.