Traffic

Rating:
Summary: HEADZ STILL AIN'T READY
Review: If you can't appreciate Soderbergh's approach and execution demonstrated in Traffic, you probably have little understanding of the filmmaking process in general or of its essential ingredients.

First off, the film deserves a huge amount of credit for being able to maintain an artistic approach while having a star-studded Hollywood cast. Rare, so points given already. The rawness of the camerawork, the creativity in editing, the transcendent score, the monochromatic coloring given to differentiate storylines, and some compelling performances (Del Toro and Cheadle most notably) are all engaging elements that combined, give Traffic its unique character.

Next, consider the boldness it required to make a film that not only deals with the loaded (no pun intended) subject matter of the "drug war", but hopes to provide the viewer with a broadened, uncompromising perspective as well. Most directors don't have the vision or tactfulness to pull off a project this ambitious.

The score/soundtrack of this film is really the glue. It borrows heavily from Brian Eno, and the final track actually IS Brian Eno. That's a good thing! It works extremely well, not only in pulling the storylines together, but also in elevating the film's theme onto a larger scope, giving us moments to really consider the issues at hand.

Anyone who compares this movie to an after-school special or Miami Vice is wacked; don't buy it for a second. Its also silly to compare Traffic to Requiem For A Dream, another film which portraits drug addiction. Apples and oranges, two very different films.

This movie is an accomplishment, no question.

Rating:
Summary: Del Toro wins best supporting actor?....for what?
Review: First off i like the "deep" "art like" type movies just like the next guy but this movie just had me wishing it would end. The plot and characters were like.... annoying...i think thats the best word to use. I GAVE my DVD copy away to someone as soon as it ended (i had to talk them into it mind you). This is just another example of Holloywood falling in love with a movie/director/actor and no matter what junk they make, its always "thumps up". Lets not mention how the heck did DelTorro get the best supporting actor award?...did my copy have like 20 or 30 minutes of some outstanding performance footage that was missing on it? Hey i even like the guy but he was in the movie only for some short time and his performance was like anyone elses in the movie...average at best. Someone tell me at what part in the movie did he perform such a powerful scene that you were left with your mouth open?...can someone tell me?. Well i guess this was just one of those "overated movies of 2000." it seems to me none of the movies that were up for "Best Movie of the Year" deserved to be there. Hollywood is just running out of ideas.

Rating:
Summary: Okay, this is my second attempt...........
Review: ...Traffic is a monstrous dissapointment. I hate this movie. It is just a preachy, campy film produced by user/losers of the Hollywood psuedo-elite who spend 23 hours a day trying to get drugs legalized so that they can get high without fear of being arrested. The film is incoherrent and has the feel of a classic cut and paste job. I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on...

Rating:
Summary: close to perfection
Review: Overwhelming in its ambition and far ranging in its scope, Steven Soderbergh's eye-opening and mind-expanding 'Traffic' comes as close to being a masterpiece as any American film in a long, long time. Indeed, it reminds us of why we fell in love with movies in the first place. Here is a film that finds not only the courage to grapple with a major social issue, but the artistry necessary to illuminate it.

'Traffic''s greatest virtue lies in the nonlinear nature of its dramatic structure. This allows director Soderburgh and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan to weave a complex tapestry of characters and plot elements, permitting us to see the issue from a myriad of different angles. The result is nothing less than an epic survey of the 'drug war' as it has come to be waged in the homes and streets of our cities and towns all around the world. 'Traffic' is not content to provide a simplistic moral lesson, as so many socially conscious films are wont to do. Instead, it tries to provide as honest and comprehensive a view of the subject as is conceivably possible, concentrating on the depressing futility and murky morality that exist on both sides of the 'war.'

In its panoramic survey of the issue, 'Traffic' looks at characters from all levels of the social strata, from the users to the sellers, from high government officials in charge of bringing an end to drug trafficking to the corrupt leaders of the drug cartels who live to ensure its continuance, from parents, spouses and friends caught up in the tragic effect of the drug world to soldiers on the front line who come to question the validity of their life cause. 'Traffic' seems to be suggesting that, in the war on drugs, it is we, as a society, who are the ultimate losers. Even those of us who never use drugs are inadvertently affected by the problem.

'Traffic' spares no one, yet, at the same time, it offers shreds of compassion to any number of the characters caught in the vicious cycle. Caroline Wakefield is, in many ways, a typical adolescent: pretty, bright and strangely drawn to what she feels is harmless experimentation with drugs, unaware of the consequences of her usage not only to herself but to society as a whole as she becomes a small but intricate part of the whole vast problem. Her father, Judge Robert Hudson Wakefield, who also just happens to have been appointed the nation's new 'drug czar,' is a fairly typical modern parent as well. Here is a man so dedicated to the advancement of his own career that, despite his love for his daughter, he has begun to reap the tragic effects that come with parental neglect. As played by Michael Douglas, Wakefield is a good solid man honestly confused by the fact that the very problem he is dedicating his life to eradicating on a global scale is occurring right in his own backyard ' and, like most concerned parents, he hasn't a clue how to deal with it. Suddenly, all the clever slogans, buzz words and shibboleths that he has used to deal with this issue on the official level become meaningless in the context of his own personal crisis. His wife, Barbara (Amy Irving), faces the problem like many good parents who have themselves tried drugs in their youth, not wanting to blow the issue out of proportion, thereby providing little in the way of moral direction for her child.

'Traffic' is filled with innumerable other complex characters as well. In his Oscar-winning performance, Benicio Del Toro plays Officer Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez, a corrupt Tijuana policeman who must decide which side of the law enforcement fence he will ultimately end up on. Don Cheadle appears as Montel Gordon, a DEA agent who finds himself dedicating his life to a cause he may no longer believe in. And Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Helena Ayala, a young wife and mother who receives a rude awakening as to the true character of her wealthy husband when he is suddenly arrested for drug dealing. Each of these characters becomes an intricate part of the big picture and contributes, in his or her own way, to the moral ambiguity and complexity that distinguish this fine film.

In addition to all the brilliant performances, 'Traffic' is distinguished by superb directing, cinematography, editing and scoring. As both director and cinematographer, Soderbergh reveals a fine eye for texture, relying on a variety of color filters to root each scene in its own particular milieu. Stephen Mirrione's tightly-knit, award-winning editing keeps this sprawling tale from unraveling and Brian Eno and Cliff Martinez create a haunting, otherworldly quality to the film with their richly somber musical score.

One would be hard pressed to explain exactly WHY 'Traffic' did not win the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2000. It was certainly the finest film of the five that were nominated. Whatever the reason, 'Traffic' is a film that will live in the hearts and minds of those who have seen it for a long, long time. It renews one's faith in the artistic possibilities of the American cinema ' a faith that has been undergoing a large number of tests and trials in the past several years. 'Traffic,' for all its depressing qualities, will make you hope again.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF 2000
Review: Traffic goes on the short list of great movies in the year 2000 that includes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Almost Famous. The movies strongest attributes are its exceptional cast and moving story. Everyone is perfectly cast and there isn't an actor I would change. The brightest of all these bright stars are Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro (who won best supporting actor), and Don Cheadle. The story is told like Nashville and Magnolia. There are several mini stories that intertwine. I also loved the different colored lenses for each story. The DVD has superb picture and sound quality. If you're one of those people that likes a truck load of extras though, I suggest you wait for a special edition to be released. If not run to your local movie store and pick this baby up!

Rating:
Summary: Good, not great
Review: This flic covered both sides of the drug "war" without bias. The characters were believable, and the actors who portrayed them made you care about what happened to them.
The only thing I didn't like was the accasionally ameteurish-looking photography of the film. Some scenes were slightly out of focus, or it seems as if the camera was strapped to the head of a trained seel named Zippo.

Rating:
Summary: Traffic
Review: It was entertaining enough to let it run to the end but I thought it lacked a lot in continuity and left a lot to fill in,
Also was not particularly impressed with Mr Douglas's performance

Rating:
Summary: 3rd best movie of the year
Review: First of all I am shocked at all the negative reviews for this movie. I thought it was the 3rd best movie of the year next to CROUCHING TIGER AND REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. If you havent seen REQUIEM FOR A DREAM GO RENT IT NOW. It is not only the best anti-drug movie ever made it is also one of the most intense and powerful films ever put to cinema.

Now for Traffic. There was one major flaw,casting Micheal Douglas. He is typical Douglas,over acting and overly dramatic. Other than that it was an interesting movie. Benicio Del Toro gives a suttle yet powerful performance as a good cop seeing all the corruption around him. He is the only character who you feel for. He is the moral conscience of the film. Soderbergh did a great job directing this epic film. Both he and Del Toro deserved the awards they got.
I dont understand some of these reviews. Did they even watch the movie? One guy made it sound like a pointless action film. Another said it was unrealistic.Back up these harsh statements!

BELIEVE ME FOLKS YOU WILL NOT FIND A FILM WITH MORE SOCIAL COMMENTARY AND RELEVANCE ALL YEAR. EXCEPT OF COURSE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.

Rating:
Summary: Reality vs. Fantasy?
Review: I felt that this movie was very well done, including the documentary-styled production and the interweaving of scenarios. I have read where several reviewers saw this movie as unrealistic, especially when the daughter of the drug-czar is on drugs and prep-school kids are street smart. Wake up, have you ever met prep-school kids from NYC that went on to Ivy League schools (I did at Brown)? This film was very important and addressed the issue of just how the drug trade is perceived in this country. Films like New Jack City and King of New York only show the drug game from the perspective of "urban ghettoes." This film points out that from these urban ghettoes, to the region south of the US border, to the living room of rich American aristocrats, the drug game is perpetuated by various demographic prophiles. Those that wouldn't like this movie most likely enjoy things that remain cliche', or even stereotypical. This film challenges us to look outside of the box (from whichever social construct that we see through) and try to get a grasp of the bigger picture.

Rating:
Summary: Not impressed.
Review: I was just not impressed with this film. Maybe if I saw it before all the hype I would not have been disapointed, but frankly, I just did not enjoy it.