Traffic (2000) 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Quaid, Miguel Ferrer, Amy Irving, Erika Christensen, Steven Bauer and Benjamin Bratt. Screenplay by Stephen Gaghan. Directed by Stephen Soderbergh. Rated R. Running tim: 147 minutes.
Traffic is a depressing, documentary-style drama that sadly depicts the futility of this nationís efforts in the drug war.
Using an omnibus, storytelling technique, director Steven Soderbergh intermixes the lives of an Ohio state supreme court justice (Michael Douglas) nominated to become the countryís newest drug czar; a Mexican police officer (Benicio Del Toro) trying to end the epidemic of drugs in his country; two undercover U.S. narcotics detectives (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman) who are working to help convict a big-time drug dealer; and a pregnant wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who does what is necessary to survive after learning her husband has been arrested for disturbing narcotics.
Traffic is not a movie the DEA will use as a recruitment tool. The movie shows law enforcement officials as mostly ineffectual, undermanned and outgunned.
And while the film does not glamorize the various drug dealers, sellers and users, it does portray them as more adept at skirting the law and beating the judicial system than their honest foes.
With a screenplay by Stephen Gaghan, Traffic is a grim examination of a problem that seems to be getting worse, despite what government officials or the nightly news tell us.
And much to their credit, Gaghan and Soderbergh portray the drug world as a big business, a corporate community distributing a product that just happens to be illegal. They take no moral stand, but they do convey the ugliness of the userís universe, the dangers of the dealersí domain and the rampant double crosses that is par for the course among the various distributors.
The temptation of easy money that can turn an honest copís outlook and make him look the other way also is touched upon.
Nowhere is this made clearer than in the episode involving Del Toro, who must team up with one drug cartel in order to eliminate another. His price, a baseball field for the youngsters of his town so they can have a place to go at night, thus keeping them off the streets and away from the various dealers who prey on children.
The weakest episode involves Douglas as the drug czar nominee. As he travels about the country learning of the extent of the drug problem, he is faced with a personal crisis after discovering that his teen-age daughter is an addict.
This seems too pat, too melodramatic a plot contrivance, even though it allows Gaghan and Soderbergh to examine the problem at a level on which many moviegoers can relate.
With the aid of cinematographer Peter Andrews, Soderbergh has given Traffic a you-are-there quality as if watching a TV documentary. This is especially true of the scenes shot in Mexico, which are bathed in a golden hue and have an improvised air to them. It also helps that the actors speak Spanish and the filmmakers use subtitles.
Adding to the realism are many sequences that appear shot with hand-held cameras.
The performances are superb throughout, especially Douglas as the nominee, who confidence is slowly eroded as he observes the problem from afar as well as from within his own household.
Del Toro is outstanding as the conflicted drug cop who wants to eradicate the trade from his country.
Cheadle and Guzman are strong as the front-line grunts who risk their lives to keep the poison off the streets.
Most notable is Zeta-Jones as a decent woman who must resort to extremes to save her husband, her family and her home. Hers is the most disturbing story and she instills a moral ambiguity in her performance that is most troubling.
Traffic is one of the best films of 2000, a grim and pessimistic exploration of an insidious menace that can touch any household not only in this country, but anywhere in the world.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN.. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com at golafayette. Reviews by Bob Bloom also can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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