Traffic

Rating:
Summary: A Gritty Masterpiece!
Review: I saw this movie at the theatre yesterday (being a college student gives me virtually no time to see movies), but I did have time to see it yesterday (3-24-01). I was so surprised at this movie. At two hours and twenty minutes, I was so engrossed in the plot that it seemed that I had only sat there in the theatre for about thirty minutes. The film is very fast-paced, with lots of action. The artistry of the film I found very cool; the scenes in Mexico are yellowish and gritty, while the scenes in Washington D.C. are a cool kind of bluish steel color. Just watch it and you will know what I am talking about! Michael Douglas gives a wonderful performance as the new U.S. drug czar who finds out his own daughter is an addict. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a priviliged wife who finds out about her husband's "business" after he is arrested. Benicio Del Toro is a stand out in this movie (he's also my pick to win Best Supporting Actor tonight at the Oscars). His portrayal of a Tijuana cop trying to stay free of corruption is wonderful and shows his versatility as an actor. I also liked the drug surveillence team of Don Cheadle and Luiz Guzman. Some people thought this movie was more of a pessimistic view of the war on drugs, but I found it not so.

Rating:
Summary: Should be an awesome DVD...filming is terrific
Review: and, in DVD format, those who enjoyed it in the theatre for its complex construction will no doubt enjoy some of the DVD's technical aspects. This is not a movie to be enjoyed. You will be flummoxed by the rapidly changing scenes and the overall atmosphere of futility. You will be caught up in each of the story lines, and you will have mixed emotions about the characters, the plot, and the filmmaker's vision of the movie as a whole. You may be deeply disturbed, if you have teens or preteens. But, the movie will make an impact, a big one, on how you feel and how you think and what you look for in a film. The star of the movie is the cameraman, but the direction, Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro and Michael Douglas are all worthy contributors, as is the young actress who plays the judge's daughter, and the TV actor who plays her boyfriend. There is a scene between Douglas and the boyfriend that will drive parents wild...wanting to take out some of their frustration on a teen that is probably just telling it the way it is. So, I can't say "Enjoy" because you won't, but I can say, "Experience it"...because it is definitely a film you will recall and speak of for years in the future.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best films of 2000.
Review: Traffic

Score: 95/100

Not since The Basketball Diaries have drugs been so expertly portrayed in a completely realisitic way as in Traffic, a stunning drama that captures you and doesn't let go, kind of like a rip in the ocean. Traffic is certainly one of the best films of 2000, such a memorable and moving picture that just keeps getting better.

Ohio Supreme Court judge Robert Wakefield has been appointed the nation's Drug Czar (Michael Douglas), his new position made more daunting by the discovery that his teenage daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen) is a heroin addict. Meanwhile, DEA agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzman) are pursuing Helena Ayala (Catherine Zeta-Jones), wife of jailed kingpin Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer), as she seeks to the control the business that her husband had kept hidden from her. South of the Border, duplicious local constable Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) is fighting the battle with his own jaded, questionable ethical code.

It's not a surprise that almost everything in this movie is pitch-perfect, especially the beautifully controlled performances, particularly from married couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, the two are both astonishing, Douglas in his second best appearance of the year, and Zeta-Jones in her first mature performance since The Mask of Zorro, that is also her best role on-screen. Also on the hotline is Benicio Del Toro, in a role so cool, honest and controlled it makes you forget about his gigantic mistake in Excess Baggage and he holds the screen with a major force in all his awesomely-shaded scenes. Then, of course, there is Steven Soderbergh who goes above and beyond anything he has ever done before, including 2000's other S.S. hit Erin Brockovich and 1998's underrated Out of Sight. It's a truly stunning direction effort, in which Soderbergh should win an Oscar for.

Traffic is not one of those boring, yawny, let's-go-for-a-sleep movies, it is an entertaining, compelling and brave piece of cinema that never lets up. See it now.

Rating:
Summary: SAFE 'DRUG WAR' DOCUDRAMA FALLS SHORT OF TRUTH
Review: Steven Soderbergh deserves credit for trying to explain to us the complexity and hypocrisy plaguing our nation's trumpeted efforts to curtail the world drug trade. But the subject is so big and most of it hidden from public view that Soderbergh fails to present important issues. Among them are that some government agencies, even before the Vietnam War, were part and parcel of the heroin and cocaine-induced subversion of American society. Courageously, Mel Gibson's comedy-adventure film AIR AMERICA dared deal with these issues in a very direct way. [Also, read "DARK ALLIANCE" by award-winning former San Jose Mercury News investigative reporter Gary Webb]. Perhaps these days, filmmakers need to use comedy for telling the truth • • • much as William Shakespeare's fools did in Macbeth and King Lear. In TRAFFIC, Soderbergh allows us to glimpse how the narco-government-industrial complex works in Mexico. In my opinion, this sub-plot was the best part of Soderbergh's work. But alas his candor and truth seeking stops south of the Mexican border! Was this his Gringo prejudice or did Soderbergh chicken out when it came to a similar institutional analysis of the trade in U. S. of A.?

STORY: Michael Douglas plays a newly appointed drug czar who oversees America's narcotics interdiction efforts, mainly focused on Mexico. Ironically, his own teenage daughter (nicely played by Erika Christensen) secretly snorts cocaine with her uppercrust schoolmates. While Dad is starting his drug-fighting job, she patheticalloy becomes a junkie. This wholesome-looking child of privilege eventually hides from her father in the Detroit ghetto. She even sells her body to get drugs. But this part of the story is full of implausibilities. One day, sticking out like a sore thumb, Douglas frantically searches the ghetto by car and then on foot for his daughter. Imagine a high level government official beating the inner city pavements without any news reporters following him around and breaking this juicy story. Yeh, right!

Meanwhile in Mexico: The fabulously talented and incredibly good looking actor Benicio Del Toro co-stars as a Mexican, rare, good narco cop who advances his career by working both sides of the border. Del Toro is magnificent. Here Soderbergh "dares" to depict Mexico as a cesspool of bribery and corruption. What makes TRAFFIC dishonest is you'd never know that drug money had tainted any law enforcement or governmnet officials here in good old U.S.A. So according to Soderbergh's world view all the bad guys are in Mexico and the good Americans are junkie victims together with their long suffering families, or overwhelmed and hapless anti-drug warriors. This rates another, "yeh right!"

I would like to have loved this movie because it had so much promise. All the acting and camera work were the absolute best. Indeed, Soderbergh outdid himself even by changing filters (blue, "tobacco," and the like) to create wonderful mood and scene changes. In that sense it may have been the best film of the season. But I think wishing to play it safe, Soderbergh's TRAFFIC totally bypasses the most serious aspects America's drug tragedy story: government agencies operating offshore are part and parcel of the problem ... and whether Democrat or Republican our leaders all know it! I speculate that Soderbergh took one look at what happened to Oliver Stone after his film "JFK" and decided not to join him in getting excoriated by critics and marginalized by politicians and their myth makers. In Hollywood and Washington it feels a lot better to be called darling and honey than to be branded a conspiracy theory kook. Look who Hollywood is fawning over now.

I hated to punch the three star rating for TRAFFIC because it was such a well made film. But when a filmmmaker with Soderbergh's talents withholds reality from the audience in the name of expediency then it would pain me to join his dishonesty by sheepishly clicking on five stars. This drug war docudrama falls short of the truth because the Mexican part is only 50% of the whole story. For this the film gets a barely passing grade from me. Still, I recommend buying and seeing this movie because as cinema fantasy it is so damn good!

Rating:
Summary: Could have been great...
Review: The underlying plot(s)/theme for this movie could have ended up with a very good movie. The acting was great, don't get me wrong, but there were several things wrong with it that would make me give it a negative recommendation. First off, literally everyone that I've asked about this movie generally didn't like it. Ranging from "it was *ok*" to "I felt like I was going to throw up afterwards for wasting my time". To me, the movie was slowly paced, predictable, and had no memorable soundtrack, which made for a very boring experience, it's just not a good sign when you start looking at your watch 30 minutes to an hour into the movie. Not to mention that there were three concurrent stories being told, and you never really got the sense that either of them had anything to do with the other. Two of the "stories" did intertwine somewhat, but you still never really got the sense that they should be in the same movie together...

The makers obviously did something right, judging by the response from a lot of people, but they obviously did something wrong as well, when you have a lot of people who sat through the movie just wondering when it will finally be over...

I don't know, this was a really "love it or hate it" kind of a movie, so if you haven't seen it, and aren't sure you are going to like it, I'd pool some money with friends and rent it when it comes out, that way, if you like it, you've only spent a buck (or less) to see it, and then you can spend your money on the DVD, but if you happen to not like it, you're only out a dollar (plus a couple of hours).

Rating:
Summary: Internal Soul Search!!!
Review: Intertwined stories that take a look at the country's drug crisis from different perspectives. Recently appointed drug czar Michael Douglas is faced with impossible task of fighting war vs. drugs. Neophyte Douglas, is alarmingly naive to to the widespread international drug network that supplies are country with a never ending amount. His ignorance is intensified once his daughter's addiction is revealed. The Douglas character is incensed that his daughter has fell victim to addiction. He dives into the urban drug subculture searching for his daughter,who's MIA. He is schooled by one of his daughter's classmates on the current epidemic, prompting him to ponder his own career. Benicio Del Toro, is a straight Tijuana policeman, who sees corruption at the highest level. This too, challenges his own moral convictions. His temptation grows as his partner becomes embroiled in controversey. Don Cheadle, (who should have been nominated for an Academy for this role)is the DEA agent tailing a recently jailed drug kimgpins' wife, (Katherine Zeta Jones) who suddenly becomes immensly resourceful, in her husband's absence. Great movie!! That is actually four movies rolled up in one....Each story offering it's own version of how drug has an adverse affect on lives. Awesome movie1!! Must see twice

Rating:
Summary: Traffic Thinks it¿s more Powerful and Important than it is.
Review: "Traffic" is a Solid yet Over-rated film, at Best a Memorable Assault on Americas War on Drugs, at Worst, a Glorified Tele-movie.

Many, Many Great Performances hold the film together. My Personal Favourite is Don Cheadle as the Seemingly Torn DEA agent. His role has to run a Gauntlet of Emotions and this Wonderful Actor pulls it off Seamlessly. Michael Douglas is the Big Name of the cast and he also gives a Wonderful, Emotional Performance.

Benicio Del Toro is many Critics Favourite in the film, for me, his was one of the Least Striking Performances in the film. He has a Bloated Screen time and he looks Bored Throughout. His role is similar to Don Cheadle's but without the Emotion. The Academy Awards may believe he is the Best Supporting Actor, but I surely do not.

Catherine Zeta Jones and Dennis Quaid have Very Little Screen time, Especially Quaid, whose role seems to have had a lot of edits. More Screen time Probably would have led to Better Performances.

Much like the film "Any Given Sunday", the Best Performances come not from the Many, Big Name, Older stars, but from the Young, Relatively Unknown Actors. "That 70's Show" star Topher Grace is a real standout as he proves himself a Natural Dramatic Talent, even though sometimes, I found myself giggling at some of his trademark mannerisms from the show.

The Direction is merely competent, the hand-held camerawork feels Unnecessary and out of place in a film that is obviously trying to be so Big and Bold. The one clever thing the makers bring to the script is the use of different colours for the different sections of the film. A Yellow filter for the Mexico scenes, a Blue filter for the Washington scenes, and a normal filter for the Miami scenes.

Overall the Accolades attributed to the film are the result of its downfall in my eyes. I give the film 4 stars, I obviously enjoyed it, but it is still Wildly Overrated in my books.

Rating:
Summary: Dont waste your money on this movie
Review: This movie was horrible and very boring. There is no plot and the stories do not interact with each other. The first words out of my mouth when the movie was over were "OH THANK GOD IT'S OVER!!!!!" Do not waste your money on this movie

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest performances of all-time
Review: This film is not only a masterpiece, but it also contains one of the finest performances ever captured on film, and that is by Benicio Del Toro. His portrayal of a Mexican cop torn by loyalties is absolutely flawless. He and Soderbergh cut down his dialogue to a minimum in order to bring out his facial acting ability, and the variety of emotions that Del Toro conveys in just a simple look prove that he is a master at his craft. When I saw this film, I was reminded of another flawless supporting performance by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part 2. Del Toro's performance equals if not bests De Niro's, which I consider another of the finest film performances. Benicio Del Toro makes it look effortless, which makes him one of the great ones.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly Directed
Review: Tom Reynolds has already written a great plot summary so I will focus on the other aspects that make this movie the best of 2000. First among these is the great acting. Previous reviewers have knocked Zeta-Jones' performance, but I don't think I could disagree more. I, like most, have not found her to be the greatest actor in the past (Entrapment, The Mask of Zorro, The Haunting *shudder*) but in this role she really comes through as the rags to riches, cocktail party wife who will do whatever it takes to hang on to her station in life. She and Erika Christensen as the addicted daughter are the surprise rolls of the film. Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro are great as always, conveying the conflicts and emotions of their characters perfectly. Michael Douglas also shines playing a roll very similar to his billionaire in The Game: a powerful man whose notions of the way the world works are slowly being shattered.

Soderbergh directs the huge movie perfectly, balancing these various life stories perfectly while never loosing the sense of urgency and purpose that drives the movie forward. He shoots each story differently (Soderbergh was cinematographer too under a pseudonym). And his use of lens filters and editing is nothing short of brilliant: from the deep blue of Douglas' Washington to the wind-blown yellow of Del Toro's Mexico, to the soft, richly colored world of Zeta-Jones's suburban mansion.

Overall this movie is everything you could want from a great film: a riveting story, great actors, and brilliant directing.