Despite my desire to fit in during my teenage years, not once did I ever do drugs. Of course, I did other foolish things to try to fit in, but poisoning my body wasn't one of them. Now that I'm older, I don't really have a desire to fit in anymore, in fact, I relish in my individuality. Part of my individuality is the fact that I've managed to spend my entire life drug-free, so when I hear about people calling drug addiction or alcoholism a disease, I just don't get it. No one put the vodka to an alcoholics lips, nor did anyone force the coke up a junkie's nose. Dismissing personal responsibility and blaming it on disease is, to me, a pathetic excuse, and a cop-out. "Traffic" is an epic film about the laughable war on drugs, and the whole "drug addiction as disease" thing is just one of the several interweaving storylines that it deals with.
"Traffic" marks the second film of the year for Steven Soderbergh, his first one being "Erin Brockovich.". Both of these films were widely praised by critics, and it's been predicted that Soderbergh may get two Best Director Oscar nominations for the two films. Wouldn't that be interesting? I think it's unlikely, though. I happen to prefer "Erin Brockovich," but because it was released so early in the year, that's the film that may be forgotten when the Oscar nominations are announced.
There's a pretty impressive cast in "Traffic." Michael Douglas leads the pack as an Ohio Supreme Court Judge who becomes the new Drug Czar. His wife is played by Steven Spielberg's ex-wife, Amy Irving. A very pregnant Catherine Zeta-Jones (thanks to Michael Douglas, who actually shares no screen time with her) plays the wife of a big drug dealer. That drug dealer is played by Miami's own Steven Bauer (you may remember him as Al Pacino's best buddy in "Scarface"). Dennis Quaid plays his lawyer, and Miguel Ferrer (usually plays a villain, and he's very good at it... he's most memorable as the cokehead baddie in "RoboCop") plays the kinda guy he usually plays. Albert Finney (he was Julia Roberts' boss in "Erin Brockovich") has a small role, as does James Brolin. The most disturbing scenes had to do with Erika Christensen (never seen her before, but I know that she was "Karen" in the "Leave It to Beaver" movie, which I never saw), who plays the daughter of Michael Douglas and Amy Irving. Oh, her friend is Topher Grace ("Eric" in "That 70s Show"). Then there are the three roles that were my favorites. The first was Benicio Del Toro as the Mexican cop. He's an excellent actor who was great in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," even though I didn't like the movie at all. He also got a lot of attention in "The Usual Suspects." Most of his lines are in Spanish, but he's fantastic in the movie. Then there's Don Cheadle (one of my favorite actors in the world... he first impressed me in "Volcano," and since then, everything he's done has impressed me) and Luis Guzmán (he was always a familiar face to me, but he really got my attention when he was in a few episodes of "NYPD Blue," and he blew me away). Don Cheadle and Luis Guzmán have worked together before, namely in "Boogie Nights" and another great Soderbergh film, "Out of Sight." I liked them a lot in this movie. They played bickering DEA agents, and they had great chemistry. They provided some of the comic relief, but despite Soderbergh's work in "Erin Brockovich" and "Out of Sight," this film is in no way a comedy. The acting in this movie is excellent all around, but it's the performances of Del Toro, Cheadle, and Guzmán that I liked the most. Oh, and be on the lookout for a cameo or two... or three or four. Not just by celebrities, but by political figures.
Steven Soderbergh is really hot right now. Critics love him and actors are clammoring to work with him. Proof is in the cast of the film he's working on right now, a remake of "Ocean's Eleven." The cast includes George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Alan Arkin, Bill Murray, Andy Garcia, and once again, Don Cheadle. That's a lotta big names. Four of the names usually earn between $10 and $20 million per film, but they each took a paycut to be in Soderbergh's new movie. He's an amazing director, and he's on a roll right now. Do you wanna know an interesting little tidbit? The credits list the director of photography as Peter Andrews, but it's really Steven Soderbergh using a pseudonym.
"Traffic" was based on on the British mini-series "Traffik" by Simon Moore. The adaptation was done by Stephen Gaghan (writer of impressive TV shows such as "The Practice," "American Gothic," and "NYPD Blue"... wrote the screenplay for the recent Tommy Lee Jones/Samuel L. Jackson film, "Rules of Engagement").
I like "Traffic"
a lot, but someone who's a dumbass like me may have a hard time following
it. There's a lot going on, and to me, it was hard to follow sometimes.
There were a few moments where I felt completely lost. But yeah, I enjoyed
the movie despite that. However, like "Boogie Nights," "Almost
Famous," "Magnolia,"
and "Fight
Club," "Traffic" is probably the kinda movie that will
require several viewings for me to truly appreciate it.
Scale of 1-10: 8