Rating: 
Summary: A Very Good Film
Review: I can't give this film 5 stars becuase it didn't affect me in any way. I saw it in the cinema and completely lost interest about halk an hour into it. It wasen't until I bought it on DVD that I began to apprecieate it more. Don't buy this thinking that it will be a masterpiece, because it's not. It's a very good film, but you will not feel for it. At the Oscars this year, Steven Soderbergh won Best Director for this film, he didn't deserve it, the main star of this film is the editing. Benicio Del Toro also won for Best Supporting Actor - a good performance, but that'a all; not Oscar worthy. I'll say again: Traffic is a very good film, but you will not feel for it or any of its characters...
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't deliver the goods
Review: I hate to pan this one, because this country desparately needs a scathing denouncement of the war on drugs that will bypass the politicians, and get into the mainstream consciousness. Unfortunately, Traffic isn't it. In a frantic effort to pack the entire tragic tapestry of the drug war into a two hour movie, Traffic accomplishes absolutely nothing. Most of the movie's content seems to be drawn from a collage of real life events over past years. I recall many actual news stories which are very similar to the plot points of of this movie. All of the drug war players are here. The junkie, the dealer, the cop, the corrupt officials, the honest but naive drug warriors. But the topic is so large, and the time so limited, they're like the chorus from a classical Greek play. They take the stage, deliver the lines which represent their point of view, and dutifully troop off. A long novel might have done justice to this story. But in a feature length movie, it's nothing more than cliched, inflammatory stereotypes and ham fisted preaching. In addition, the movie is intentionally shot in an off-color, jerking "point of view" style that's not much more graceful than the efforts of an amateur with a camcorder. I suppose this was meant to lend a tense "you are there" kind of feel. The only tension I felt was between my temples.
Rating: 
Summary: Utterly out-of-touch with reality
Review: I guess in my last review of this film, I revealed too much, or I made too many spiteful comments because it never got posted. I can't describe how awful this film was, at least not adequately in a way that Amazon will post. This film has some serious flaws that I find so amazinly obvious and utterly ridiculous that I have a hard time believing anyone would like it. I think it gets by solely on "Star Power", because it is the weakest attempt at serious filmmaking I have ever had the disprivelege to witness. All sense of reality was swept aside in favor of knee-jerk sensationalism. If so many people think this movie is about the "real" war on drugs, America is in serious trouble. I'm pretty sure the only people who think this film has anything to do with reality have never been to or known anything about the ghetto and street life. Middle-class Americans who claim this film is all about "reality" are only allowing themselves to be fooled even further. THE EVENTS THAT TAKE PLACE IN THIS FILM COULD NEVER HAPPEN IN REALITY. It is a twisted, sensationalistic fantasy, one where cops are morons, the "Druz Czar" is a pathetic looser who couldn't run a one-man charity, rich white prep-school kids are "street smart" and the entire Justice System if the United States is so woefully inadequate that it can't bring to justice a drug lord who has been practically gift-wrapped. I can't believe anyone could overlook these serious flaws, to the point that I'm worried about our society and how it intends to deal with a serious problem.
Rating:
Summary: can you say 'gloss'?
Review: soderberg is probably one of the most over rated directors working today. if you want to make a film with a 'documentary' feel why not get someone who knows how to shot it, like say i don't know a documentary filmaker? but that is not the point. this movie glosses over, and not very well, the issue and problem of drugs and politics. it presents it as a cute problem that needs to be nipped in the bud. pure ...! the only reason it gets 2 stars is because as always benecio del toro was very good and convincing. over all, highly over rated(i would venture to say the most over rated apart from gladiator-at least that was amusing). and would someone please be an honest and intelligent person and agree.
Rating:
Summary: Academy Award Nominee???
Review: Why? After 45 minutes, I could not make myself watch this film any longer. If this can be nominated for a slew of awards, anything can.
Rating:
Summary: A POWERFUL AND DRAMATIC EPIC
Review: Not too many films can stimulate the brain like this movie. Not too many films can get you involved like this movie. Not too many films can be provocative like this movie."Traffic" is a dramatic epic about the ongoing war with drugs. From the United States to Mexico, this film shows you the ugly presence of drugs, and how they affect the world. This film does not have one story; it has many. Like the very popular "Pulp Fiction", this film bounces back and forth to one area to another, except it's all in order. The advantage of this is that there are many characters for you to grow to love and hate; it also shows us the different stories and tragedies of how drugs can ruin and destroy lives. This movie does not revolve around one story or one character; it revolves around a dozen of them. The stories and characters keep you intrigued and connected with this powerhouse drama which is very unpredictable from the very beginning. This movie is filmed very similar to an Oliver Stone movie; different types of film, camera angles, and switching to different moments within the blink of an eye. This movie wasn't made to show how good conquers evil, and that all's well, end's well. Many things are uncertain when you finish the movies, and there are no easy answers and no guarantee that everything is well in the end. The point of this movie is to be realistic, and make us alert and understanding about the situation at hand. This movie shows you that the situation is there, and most likely will never vanish. I enjoyed this movie very much, although there are times where I wish the movie was a little shorter. Some may decline to see the film due to it being long, but give it a chance. It is a really good film, and it is filled with brilliant acting, characters, and great writing. I highly recommend this film.
Rating:
Summary: DRUGS ARE BAD. DRUGS ARE VERY VERY BAD.
Review: Given the complexity of the world's illegal drug trade, "Traffic" is a trickle of activity concerning drug trafficking between Tijuana, Mexico and The United States. It depicts a very accessible and obvious ladder of good and evil underworld hierarchy that includes South American drug cartels, a reluctant government informant right out of "The Godfather", a United States drug czar who battles illegal global drug trade but can't stop it in his own home, and a Mexican drug task officer fighting corruption in his own ranks. In "Traffic", the distinction between good guys and bad guys is obvious with little depth of character aside from either fighting or distributing drugs. The token drug addict here is so 'high', she behaves like a relic from the 1960s psychedelic scene, "Far out man, I see colors!". The over-ridden action sequences are cliched drug smuggling bits of bullets and blow-ups less compelling than even an episode of TV's "Miami Vice". There is a moral right-wing quaintness to "Traffic" that suggests we confront illegal drug use one pathetic addict at a time. Where serious answers lie to escalating drug use in America, we get instead an all encompassing theme that 'drugs are bad' laden in melodramatic trifle more akin to Joe Friday's "Dragnet" than it is to Hollywood's big drug statement. After nearly 2 1/2 hours of this tedious action and morality, I needed a Tylenol.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: There was alot of hype for this movie but it just didn't live up to expectations. While it had a great plot and such an excellent cast, the potential was there but it just lacked something. The ohio and mexican scenes were filmed with a hazy yellow or blue lighting (done for artistic merit or whatever) were annoying and every monologue spoken by the characters was really slow and dragged out, very little emotion was shown through the movie, which I found especially odd considering the heavy subject matter. It was also a bit unrealistic, for example the daughter goes from being an honour roll etc. student who does drugs recreationally to very suddenly running away from rehab to living on the streets and sleeping with her drug dealer for heroin. And of course this missed what could have been a great part in the movie, by showing what its REALLY like for people to do heroin (as in the after effects, not just the getting high part). Alot of the movie relied on "shock value" by things that just weren't very shocking at all, like the upper class prep school kids doing drugs, the well respected business man being the drug lord and the mexican general who was trying to put an end to the drug smuggling really working for the rival cartel. And none of these "revelations" were very suprising at all. This movie was a typical drug war movie with no new material at all.
Rating:
Summary: Movie was disappointing
Review: I bought the movie because im a Michael Douglas fan and I wanted to see Cathrine Zeta-Jones. The movie however reminded me of a long boring government sponsored public service documentary on drugs. The over exposed and monocrome filming in the movie reminded me of films shot in the 60's, and the overused english subtitles during the Mexican scenes both got in the way. I found myself concentrating on these effects instead of the actors. The film suggests that the US fights drug traffic at all costs. However, the film shows Douglas character's daugthter in the film being on drugs herself and how he deals with it in his government anti-drug czar job. This situation is probably more real than we'd like to admit. If you want to see Michael Douglas, I can think of better movies to spend your money on.
Rating:
Summary: It may not touch upon things we dont already know...
Review: But needless to say it is an overall wonder. The supurb filming catches your emotions right away, while as brief as some of the characters are on the screen, the acting behind each one is wonderful. Critics may say that the movie needed more time to develope strong characters. I find it amazing at just how deep some of the characters are. If you want to see very deep character development go buy Traffik (the british mini series that was brought over to the US) but if your looking for a great movie that will capture you from beggining to end, with wonderfully interwoven plots, buy this.
|
