Product Description
No Description Available.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 22-MAY-2007
Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com
Featuring a huge cast of characters, the ambitious and breathtakingTraffic is a tapestry of three separate stories woven together by a common theme: the war on drugs. In Ohio, there's the newly appointed government drug czar (Michael Douglas) who realizes after he's accepted the job that he may have gotten into a no-win situation. Not only that, his teenage daughter (Erika Christensen) is herself quietly developing a nasty addiction problem. In San Diego, a drug kingpin (Steven Bauer) is arrested on information provided by an informant (Miguel Ferrer) who was nabbed by two undercover detectives (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzmán). The kingpin's wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones), heretofore ignorant of where her husband's wealth comes from, gets a crash course in the drug business and its nasty side effects. And south of the border, a Mexican cop (Benicio Del Toro) finds himself caught between both his home country and the U.S., as corrupt government officials duke it out with the drug cartel for control of trafficking various drugs back and forth across the border. Bold in scope, Traffic showcases Steven Soderbergh at the top of his game, directing a peerless ensemble cast in a gritty, multifaceted tale that will captivate you from beginning to end. Utilizing the no-frills techniques of the Dogme 95 school, Soderbergh enhances his hand-held filming with imaginative editing and film-stock manipulation that eerily captures the atmosphere of each location: a washed-out, grainy Mexico; a blue and chilly Ohio; and a sleek, sun-dappled San Diego. But Traffic is more than a film-school exercise. Soderbergh and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (adapting the British TV miniseries Traffik to the U.S.) seamlessly weave the threads of each separate plotline into one solid tale, with the actions of one plot having quiet repercussions on the other two. And if you needed more proof that Soderbergh takes unparalleled care with his actors, practically all the members of this cast turn in their best work ever, the standout being an Oscar-worthy Del Toro as the conflicted moral conscience of the film. While no story is fully resolved in the film, you'll be haunted by these characters days after you've seen the film. By far one of the best movies of 2000. --Mark Englehart
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0 out of 0 people found this review helpful:
Read Predator DownI strongly recommend reading Predator Down concerning another type of abuse which reminded me so much of Traffic Predator Down
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful:
Time has been kind to this film...The film tells three separate stories that overlap telling a fuller story concerning the war on drugs here in the US. We have the newly appointed government drug czar, Robert Wakefield, who struggles with his new assignment as well as with his wayward daughter Caroline, who has a serious drug habit of her own. We also have Helena Ayala, the beautiful yet naïve wife of a recently incarcerated drug-kingpin. And then we have Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro in his Oscar winning role), the conflicted police officer who serves as the films moral center; one of shifting focus and impending consequence.
While at times it feels as though it bites off more than it can chew, there is so much going on here that it seems to more than make up for its faults.
The acting here is pretty much sensational. Del Toro is the standout, delivering a natural and completely inhabited performance, but he is not the only actor at the top of their game. Michael Douglas, who is not an actor I am overly fond of, delivers his best performance, in my humble opinion, as a concerned parent folding under the pressure or raising awareness as well as a daughter. Speaking of that daughter, Erika Christensen is simply brilliant here. The way she constructs her characters addiction is heartbreaking and sincere. This film is all about grit and realism and she masters that with her beautifully tragic performance.
Don Cheadle, Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace and Catherine Zeta-Jones only form a small fraction of this talented cast.
The true star of the show here is director Steven Soderbergh. With a film that tries to do so much, Soderbergh keeps throwing it at us, visually as well as thematically. Where the script may drop the ball or find itself (at times) bogged down, Soderbergh makes sure that the visual feast before us is captivating yet raw and unnerving. While I would not have handed him the director award myself, I totally understand why he got it. He takes each story and builds its own separate mood and feel yet ties each story in, creating a cohesive and complex portrayal of human interaction and suffering.
There is a universal `flow' that permeates this film and makes it work even when it technically shouldn't.
So, in the end I highly recommend this. My rating is back to an A because, despite its flaws, `Traffic' is a great film that works to its strengths and delivers in the end. It is a film that definitely understands its subject and it is something we can appreciate and glean from even now, ten years down the road.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful:
Just As Timely NowThe war is really a series of skirmishes. Failures in the "drug war" cause many deaths and misery.
The movie is told in a series of stories with each of the storylines having a set of characters that at times intersect and form the bigger picture. Two detectives on the American side (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman) in San Diego are tracking a drug ring while two detectives on the Mexican side in Tijuana are going after a major cartel. One of the Mexican cops, Javier, is played brilliantly by Benicio Del Toro.
The American drug boss and his wife form one of the story strands. In an effort to save her husband she becomes as ruthless and cold-blooded as he.
What "Traffic" illustrates is that it's the actions and honesty of ordinary cops who win small victories in the "war against drugs" that count, not the futile efforts of misdirected national movements.
The movie is long, but fascinating and worth sticking with. Some scenes are filmed in sepia tones. It's an intense and very significant and pertinent film.
1 out of 5 people found this review helpful:
Typical hollywood BS!Really terrible boring hard to follow movie with undeserving awards!
I regret buying this movie and im glad I got rid of this horrible movie at my local movie stop store for a few bucks but it was worth it!
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful:
Unique Take On The Border Drug WarAs for the acting, Michael Douglas usually plays interesting roles and this is no exception. Benicio Del Toro got an Oscar for his role but I don't know why. He wasn't anything that special. Personally, I liked Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman in here better with the latter adding some much-needed humor to the film. Miguel Ferrer was also intense as the bad guy, "Eduardo Ruiz."
The two kids who played Douglas's daughter and her boyfriend (Erika Christensen and Topher Grace, respectively), received no billing on the back on the DVD but they had major roles. They must have done a good job because they really irritated me. The girl's descent into drug hell was not pleasant to view. This is not an easy story to watch, or comprehend everything that's going on. It also is not one with a happy message.
The visuals were great with many all-sepia toned scenes, or all blue hues. Scenes changed every two minutes to a different ongoing. You had to really pay attention but I never found myself drifting away from the story.
It isn't just the unique visuals; it's an interesting and disturbing story.