Traffic (2000)

reviewed by
Frankie Paiva

TRAFFIC     * * * ½

2000 – USA/Germany Director: Steven Soderbergh Starring: Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle, Dennis Quaid, Erika Christensen, Miguel Ferrer, Topher Grace, Amy Irving, Benjamin Bratt, Albert Finney, Majandra Delfino, Luis Guzman

Reviewed by Frankie Paiva

Something disturbing happened on my way out of `Traffic'. After viewing a two and a half-hour film on the various sides of the drug war in America, many fellow audience patrons immediately took out a cigarette and began to smoke away. That this heavy film, wrought with message and style, had absolutely no impact on them is beyond comprehension. It seems Steven Soderbergh has created a work of true questions and limited answers. It's a challenging piece that does what Spike Lee did to racism in `Bamboozled', only this time the focus is drugs. However poignant, people think these issues don't apply to them, but they do in far too many ways.

Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) is about to become America's new drug czar, unbeknownst to his teenage daughter's drug addiction. Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) is a good-hearted Tijuana cop, seemingly the only one not accepting backroom bribes. Helena Ayala's (Catherine Zeta-Jones) husband Carlos is on trial for smuggling illegal drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Two police officers in a van (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman) are monitoring her every move. This covers about half of the intricate stories held together by the ever character-growing script that centers on the competition between two Tijuana cartels. It's like a trapeze act on tightropes with the performers in clown makeup juggling bowling pins that are on fire. There's a chance of falling every second, but just a few minutes with Steven Soderbergh will eliminate all doubts of plummeting to the three-ring ground. As anyone who saw his 1999 film `The Limey' could tell you, holding up multiple characters through complicated time changes is what Soderbergh does best, and it's what makes him a sensational filmmaker.

With it's length and tough subject matter, `Traffic' does get a little depressing, but it seems a desired effect. The cinematography, one of the highest standpoints of the film, creates a world of suffering through simple filters. Each segment with a character is either in morbid blue, bleak yellow, or limited color. This helps to create a gritty feeling that heightens to the end. It nearly becomes nonfiction in style.

What's so great about `Traffic' is the acting and casting. Besides the aforementioned actors, the cast also includes Dennis Quaid, Erika Christensen, Miguel Ferrer, Topher Grace, Amy Irving, Benjamin Bratt, Albert Finney, and Majandra Delfino, to name a few. This is easily the year's best-assembled group of actors. Soderbergh discovers things about each one of his players, and allows them freedom to experiment with their talents. Just one performance is off key, that being Dennis Quaid's turn as a conniving `friend' of Carlos and Helena. The womanizing role fits him, but for some reason, there's no energy to his work.

With ensemble pictures such as these, the question is normally, `Who's going to get nominated?' There's only one easy answer, Benicio Del Toro. This underused actor, who just jumpstarted his career with two other thematically related gang movies `The Way of the Gun' and `Snatch', is beyond perfection. His mostly Spanish-speaking role aches with the lifelong difficulties of his character. Beyond him, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, who by the way share no screentime together, have the best chance.

Though better off a statement than a movie, `Traffic' certainly raises questions that haven't appeared before now. It feels like a documentary, but it also feels like an elaborate, fanciful fairytale. As if this only applies to a small number of people near the border, or that the drug war won't take decades to fight. It will take decades, and it will apply to everyone. `Traffic' is the perfect icebreaker and introduction to these issues that have no apparent solution or end.

And another cigarette is lit. And another joint is smoked.

Traffic (2000)

reviewed byFrankie Paiva

reviewed by
Frankie Paiva