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Traffic (2001)
Front Cover Actor Back Cover
Steven Bauer Carlos Ayala
Benjamin Bratt Juan Obregon
James Brolin Ralph Landry
Don Cheadle Montel Gordon
Erika Christensen Caroline Wakefield
Benicio Del Toro Javier Rodriguez
Michael Douglas Robert Wakefield
Luis Guzman Ray Castro
Dennis Quaid Arnie Metzger
Catherine Zeta-Jones Helena Ayala
Movie Details
Genre Crime; Drama; Thriller
Director Steven Soderbergh
Producer Laura Bickford; Marshall Herskovitz
Writer Stephen Gaghan
Studio USA Films
Language English
Audience Rating R (Restricted)
Running Time 147 mins
Country USA
Color Color
IMDb Rating 7.8
Plot
No One Gets Away Clean

Described by director Steven Soderbergh as "Nashville meets The French Connection," this multi-character drama explores the effects of international drug trafficking on all fronts: from their source, to the U.S. border, to the federal government, to the private lives of users. Based upon a miniseries originally aired on Britain's Channel 4, Traffic divides its time among three main storylines and almost a dozen locales. The first and primary plot thread, set in Ohio and Washington, D.C., concerns freshly-appointed drug czar Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas), whose enthusiasm for his new prestige position is quickly offset when he realizes his 16-year-old daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen) is graduating from recreational drug use to habitual abuse — a secret that his wife, Barbara (Amy Irving), has kept from him. South of the border, Mexican cop Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) attempts to wage his own war on drugs, heading off a cocaine shipment in the middle of the desert with his less-than-virtuous partner Manolo Sanchez (Jacob Vargas). Surrounded by corruption, Javier approaches the drug war with an attitude of patience and compromise, which opens him up to investigation from General Arturo Salazar (Tomas Milian), the country's dubious drug-enforcement liaison to the U.S. Meanwhile, San Diego drug kingpin Carlos Alaya (Steven Bauer) is caught in a sting operation spearheaded by DEA agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzman), leaving behind his very pregnant and very oblivious wife, Helena (Catharine Zeta-Jones). At the behest of Carlos' lawyer and shady confidante, Arnie Metzger (Dennis Quaid), Helena decides to carry on the family business — with tragic consequences. Adapted by Rules of Engagement scribe Stephen Gaghan, Traffic marked Soderbergh's second major release in 2000 after the critical and box-office success of Erin Brockovich, as well as his second feature as cinematographer (credited under the pseudonym Peter Andrews). A favorite with various guild and critics' awards, Traffic won four Academy Awards in 2001, including statues for Best Supporting Actor (Del Toro) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Gaghan), and surprise wins for Steven Mirrone's editing and Soderbergh's direction. — Michael Hastings
Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Index 215
Collection Status In Collection
Links Amazon US
All Movie Guide
DVD Empire
Product Details
Format DVD
Region Region 1
Screen Ratio Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)
Layers Single Side, Dual Layer
UPC (Barcode) 696306018124
Chapters 68
Release Date 5/29/2001
Subtitles French; Spanish
Packaging Keep Case
Audio Tracks ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC]
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo [CC]
Nr of Disks/Tapes 1
Extra Features
Color Closed-captioned Widescreen Dolby
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