Starring Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle,
Luis Guzman, Dennis Quaid, Erika Christensen, Topher Grace, Clifton Collins Jr., Amy Irving,
Miguel Ferrer, Tomas Milian, Jacob Vargas, Marisol Padilla Sanchez, Steven Bauer,
Albert Finney, James Brolin, Benjamin Bratt, Peter Riegert.
Written by Stephen Gaghan. Directed by Stephen Soderbergh.
Robert Wakefield (Douglas) is about to be named the new Drug Czar by the U.S. president.
Replacing retiring czar General Robert Landry (Brolin), he has a problem at home - his
16 year-old daughter Caroline (Christensen) is experimenting with freebasing cocaine with her
private school friend Seth Abrahms (Grace), and is hooked. He and wife Barbara (Irving)
are at a loss as to what to do for their high-achieving daughter, and Robert is too
often away in Washington doing his new job. Meanwhile, DEA agents Montel Gordon (Cheadle)
and Ray Castro (Guzman) have arrested Eduardo Ruiz (Ferrer), a mid-level drug dealer who
was trying to move a large quantity of cocaine. Eduardo is convinced to take an immunity deal.
Ruiz names his boss businessman Carlos Ayala (Bauer), who is arrested in front of his
young son and disbelieving wife Helena (Zeta-Jones). Family attorney Arnie Metzger
(Quaid) informs Helena of her husband's activities, and she soon finds how deeply
he is in the business, and how dangerous it can be. Javier Rodrigues (Del Toro)
and his partner Manolo (Vargas) are Mexican cops who have joined General Arturo Salazar
(Milian) in his efforts to stop the leading drug family in Tijuana, but they are
a bit worried about the General's methods and motivations.
Fresh off the huge success of Erin Brockovich and two recent excellent films
Out Of Sight and The Limey, director Soderbergh has created another
winner, a richly complex, very entertaining film that illustrates the mess that is
the "drug war". The story is shot
in documentary style, where the camera is allowed to observe events as they happen.
The Mexican scenes are shot in digital video in a brownish hue, with the characters
speaking Spanish and using sub-titles, contrasing the U.S. scenes which are shot in
regular colour. In some ways Traffic is like last year's Magnolia in
its complexity and interweaving stories and character interaction, except this film
deals with public and political issues compared to Magnolia's interpersonal
relationship stories, and it is every bit as good. The best thing about the film
is that it refuses to paint characters as wholly good or bad or advocate simple
solutions to solve an overwhelming series of problems.
Traffic beautifully shows the inherent hypocrisies involved with the drug war
participants. We see the new anti-drug drug czar pounding back 3 scotches before dinner.
His daughter tells some people she used drugs instead of booze because they are easier
for a minor to obtain. Rich white kids in the suburbs indulge in their parent's homes
when the parents are off on vactation, and drive to the poor neighbourhoods to buy drugs.
They are away from home for hours at a time with money that had to come from the parents,
without their parents either knowing or even asking. The film asks why affluent kids,
often good students who seemingly have it all, would turn to drugs. It seems to suggest
not only an emptiness in their lives, but their ambivalent feelings toward pursuing
college and the corporate world that their parents work in. Barbara is hesitant
to come down hard on her daughter because she remembers her youthful days of experimenting
with drugs. Eduardo chides Montel for working in the "drug war" saying he's in reality just
working for a rival drug baron by trying to put Amaya out of business. Mexican corruption
at the highest levels frustrate those Mexican police that want to curb the power
of the local drug barons and improve the lot of the average Mexican. Each of
these issues are subtly illustrated with few overbearing speeches.
The cast is huge and boasts a large number of great performers at their best. At the
top of the list is Del Toro as the idealistic Mexican cop who knows the corruption
in Mexico, but still wants to make a difference. Cheadle and Guzman are hilarious
as the wisecracking agents who are dedicated to making a difference, and persevere
despite their inability to actually convict the drug lords or stop much of the drug
flow across the borders. Newlyweds Douglas and Zeta-Jones are never in the same
scene, but deliver nicely nuanced performances as characters on opposite sides.
Some actors who haven't had a
good role in ages, such as Ferrer, Quaid and Irving, deliver substantial performances.
Hell, even James Brolin is good, displaying substance and a world-weariness as the
frustrated retiring drug czar. Traffic is one of the best films of the year,
and could be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, and if Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon is not nominated, Traffic would be a deserving winner.
 
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