Traffic
(2000) 
Nominated
for: Best Picture
Won:
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro
Directing
Film Editing
Writing Adapted
Movie
Overview:
Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Out of Sight)
offers a look at the world of drug trafficking on both sides of the law,
in an ensemble drama, with four storylines converging in the final act,
that he has compared to Robert Altman's classic Nashville. At the
story's center is Judge Robert Lewis (Douglas), who becomes the country's
new drug czar even as his teenage daughter is fast becoming an addict
herself.
Starring: Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Douglas, Luis
Guzman, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Written by: Stephen Gaghan
Studio: USA Films
Review from Filmcritic.com
Rating: /5
How
do you fight a war when the people that you love are the enemy? When the
conflict is in your own neighborhood, or your own house? Such is the dilemma
in the exceptional new film about the drug trade in the United States
and Mexico, Traffic.
A harrowing and thought-provoking
film, Traffic revolves around three intertwining stories
of cops, thugs, victims, enforcers, politicians, and the judicial system.
The film is based on a British Channel 4 miniseries called Traffik, 
which traced a drug route from Pakistan through Europe and to Great Britain.
Laura Bickford, one of the producers for Traffic, was attracted
to the original miniseries because of the intersecting stories, the social
commentary on drug usage, and the implication of The System itself being
the major perpetrator of drug addiction.
The film revolves around three
disparate stories, which Soderbergh handles with aplomb. One story centers
on Tijuana State policeman Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) and his
partner, Manolo, caught in a web of political corruption centered on the
Mexican drug trade. Del Toro is a standout, delivering a subtle, powerful
performance rich with authenticity.
A second story centers on Robert
Wakefield (Michael Douglas), the U.S. President's newly appointed drug
czar whose daughter Caroline (played by newcomer Erika Christensen), an
A+ student, develops a drug problem that turns from occasional use to
severe addiction. This story focuses on the impact of drugs on the nuclear
family and the general inability of the family to protect itself. Douglas
and Amy Irving (as Wakefield's wife) turn in wonderful performances as
quiet, concerned parents who are powerless to stop their daughter's fall
into drug use.
Finally, the third story revolves
around the actual purveyors of drugs and the law enforcers determined
to put them out of business. The story is anchored by Helena Ayala (Catherine
Zeta-Jones), wife of major San Diego drug baron Carlos (Steven Bauer).
Unaware of her husband's illicit business, she enlists the aid of her
husband's attorney Arnie Metzger (Dennis Quaid playing a slime ball) to
get him out of jail -- even if it means taking over the business.
All of these stories add up to make Traffic one of the best
films of 2000.
Soderbergh's deft directing
and cinematography work give each section of the film a unique look and
feel. The Mexican landscape is overexposed and enriched with sepia tones.
The home of Douglas and the government agencies are a cool-blue color
in sharp contrast. San Diego has a warm glow to its environment and its
population. Whenever characters from each of the stories intersect, things
get really spicy.
Traffic tackles
tough situations and still delivers a solid, complex tale filled with
thrilling moments and heart-wrenching drama. The film doesn't deliver
a solution for ending the war on drugs, but it does offer insight into
the business. As a tale about the most self-destructive part of society,
Soderbergh has created nothing short of a masterpiece.
Pictures from the movie "Traffic" :
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"I
like women to look like women. I hated grunge. No one's more feminist
than me, but you don't have to look as if you don't give ał
- Catherine Zeta-Jones