Traffic

Rating:
Summary: What was all the fuss about?
Review: I had read recently that members of the US Congress were making use of this movie to re-visit the policies of the War on Drugs. If our congressmen see these hackneyed themes as major revelations, that is indeed frightening.

A few years back there was mini-series on Masterpiece Theater that, I assume, was based on the same novel, as the stories were almost identical. A gentleman is appointed drug czar in the UK, just as he discovers that his daughter is an addict. A major businessman is found to be a drug king-pin, to the shock and dismay of his wife, who then goes into the business herself, and is even better at it. Yada, yada....Of course, Masterpiece, with it's way of presenting a story over several weeks, rather than a mere 147 minutes, was able to go into much greater depth, and develop some real characters. Besides which, the ideas presented were probably just a little newer (though not much) back in the eighties.

This movie version has far too much happening and far too many characters, so that the whole thing ends up rather flat. Indeed, had I not seen the mini-series I might not even have picked up on some of the many plots. The wife's (Catherine Zeta-Jones) entering into the drug trade on her own, was just barely covered. And a sub-plot about a business partner trying to move in on her when the husband was in prison, was so badly handled that you didn't even know it had happened until it was over.

It is the rare movie that can handle all the plots and characters that can be covered in a novel or mini-series. Instead, they should try to pare down the characters and themes, and then cover them in greater depth. As it was, the "extra touches" like filming all the Mexican scenes in a wavey, hot- yellow light did nothing to convince me that this was anymore artistic than your average drug heist movie. And the supposedly "new" questions it raised, were actually very old ones.

Rating:
Summary: I WANT MY TIME AND MONEY BACK!!!!
Review: I just watch Traffic, and I have to say it is nothing like the reviews had to say about it being a Masterpiece, Just as big as the God Father Epic, A Flat-out Electrifying Experience, Scenes play like tubo-charged versions of real life, and blah blah blah!!!

I did not like the movie, because they did a very bad job of story telling! I could not get into, or feel for any of the characters in this story. There was a lot at stake for the characters in Traffic, but they did not give you a performance that there was anything at stake at all.

I will touch, on my other reasons why I did not like this movie by naming the four Academy Awards that they got this year.

Best Director: how did Steven Soderbergh get this award? Did the people really watch the movie. I still believe it should have gone to Ang Lee, or even Ridley Scott, because they did tell a better story that had better direction than Traffic. Sure, Traffic has direction, tries to sound smart, but I believe it failed doing so. How did if fail? I believed it failed by doing too much, trying to tell too many stories, and pulling them all together into one in the end. I am sure if they worked on it a little longer, they could tell a better story.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Give me a break, and send me to the moon!!! Once again, they could have told a better story, if they seem took their time to write it out. I was reading the information inside the DVD cover, and it look like they did work on it for some time, but there was something missing in it. So, I have to go back to the performances again. The performances did not seem real to me, it was like yeah whatever, just get off my case!!

In addition, they got the idea from a TV miniseries called "Traffik" in the early 80's. For some reason this does not set well for me, it just seems to me not too much work is happening here. Because that is one of the first things we do in writing class, is taking stories and rewrite them, its not that hard of an task to do...

Best Supporting Actor: I felt nothing from Benicio Del Toro, in his role as a Mexican Cop. There was one time in the movie that I did felt something from him, and that is in the end. I have to say that was the best part, because the ending was very moving. His performance as a whole was so so to not much. I thought Joaqun Phoenix played a stronger roll and should of got Best Supporting Actor!

Best Film Editing: YAK!!! and i YAK AGAIN!!!! I have not seen soooooo many bad editing job in my life, it made movies like The Blair Witch Project, and Plan 9 From Outer Space look great! There was not much to any action in this movie to make people look good at in what they are doing. Therefore, they shot one or two bullets, and blow up a car big whip/tea doooo. I mean if they are going to give out this award for film editing, give it to somebody that Had to do Hard Work to make things look real and believable...

So, I ask what was the big haa/doo with Traffic? The only thing I can think of, it was really a pro drug story more than an anti drug story. No one is clean, so don't judge me. Is what I got from this story.

I watch it twice trying to find the magic behind this movie, and I could not.

I did not care about how it was filmed using a dirty black and white in Mexico, and using clear clean Color in the USA. I was amazed; however, to see that the characters did change colors when they went from Mexico to the US, talking about not staying in character. LOL!!

I believe what would have made the movie better, is by doing less with it. I believe they would have had a great story by keeping it in Mexico, I think that was there strong suit in the movie.

If anything this was Soderbergh Pulp Fiction! and for that I give him one star for his effort...

Rating:
Summary: Try It Before You Buy It!
Review: This movie had all the right ingredients, all-star cast, big-budget, capable director, promising plot...SO WHAT HAPPENED? The only thing I found redeeming in this movie was Benecio Del Toro's performance. The script was too fragmented to develop much interest in anyone else. A lot of folks loved this movie, and it did have a gritty realism about it...I just wish I'd seen it BEFORE I made my purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Depressing
Review: I really had no idea what this movie was about when my husband and I rented it. I wish I hadn't wasted my time. I really like Michael Douglas, but this movie is not worthy of his acting ability. He has made much better movies. I agree with all of the other reviewers who said this was boring. It was also depressing. Very hard to follow and keep up with what with all the bouncing back and forth between stories. I know that there is a drug problem out there, and I know there was probably supposed to be a hidden message. It was one of those movies where you have to really think about it. My husband made a comment about the movie that if he wanted to see that stuff all he has to do is watch the news. We watch movies to escape, not be reminded of all the depressing stuff in the world.

Unless you like this kind of thing, I wouldn't recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Masterful drug epic..
Review: This is a great epic. It deals with a very prevalent and interesting topic.. the war on drugs. The stories are all done and intertwined extremely well. This is 2000's best and the best since American Beauty...

Rating:
Summary: Sloppy narrative
Review: Three things: 1. If Catherine Zeta-Jones never knew about her husband's business, how did she get so good at running it so fast? 2. Whenever the film went to Mexico, why was everything pinkish-orange? 3. How did Michael Douglas leave the White House press room so easily without passing anybody?

This film is terribly overrated. I can't believe it got the notices it did. The DVD is not unique in any way; typical stuff like behind the scenes and trailers. I would have liked commentary. (Even though I think if a film is made well enough, it doesn't have to be explained.)

Rating:
Summary: Much better than Gladiator.
Review: I don't place movie reviews here on Amazon, I usually stick to the music side of this site. But this movie immediatly prompted me to write a review on it. So when I rented this movie not expecting much in return, just something to fill my evening while the wife and kids were out of town. I was truely moved by the movie. Steven Soderbergh has now made two fantastic films in a row, and is truely a craftsman of films when it comes to all the junk that fills the screens these days.

And what can I say about Benicio del Toro. I can't, his performance was brilliant to say the least. M.Doulglas, and C. Zeta-Jones acted just as well too. The un-sung hero in this movie is Ericka Christiansen, who plays Douglas' daughter. You could feel the pain that she was going through as an addict, and the turmoil that it put on her parents was very convincing.

This movie was hands down the best of 2000.

Rating:
Summary: All hype, no movie
Review: I anxiously awaited seeing "Traffic" for this first time. I must say that it was a dissapointment. I keep waiting for the movie to pick up, but It never did. No climax or conclusion in the film what-so-ever. It drags along at the same pace, then bang, it's already over. I don't see why Benico Del toro was praised so much by critics for this movie. He must have only said 5 words of english in the whole thing. This film will sadly make you feel no emotional at all for any of the characters, though probably does accurately tell the drug problem in AMerica

Rating:
Summary: What's the big deal?
Review: Just another movie about drugs; selling them, doing them, etc. (Yawn.) What's with all the hype? Don't believe it's a "must-see" just because the ads and the critics say so. They are both bought very easily. The cast is good but how much entertainment value is there in watching a father lose his daughter to drugs and then to prositution? We can see that for free on Jerry Springer. And we are supposed to care about people who are so absolutely stupid? This film, just like real life gives you no reason to care about people who choose to be morons. This film makes you wonder if the producers and writers themselves were high. People on drugs should enjoy it though. It will support their dillusion that they are cool and a rebel. Unfortunately because of this film's success we can expect a dozen carbon-copies within the year. Remember when movies used to be a good experience?

Rating:
Summary: OK, not as good as all the hype.
Review: I was a little disapointed in the ending it just left the audience hanging. I thought the movie was somewhat boring, however it was very accurate in many ways and in many other areas it was very HOLLYWOOD. I understand the effect the director was trying to create, but the harsh lighting and colors combined with the way the movie was filmed just made it all the more difficult to focus on the movie. If you want to see a movie about the Mexican/American drug problem, you will be pleased to know this movie is more accurate than people think, but I'm glad I didn't pay to see it at the movie theater. If you are curious about this movie, rent it so if you get too bored you can still turn it off and return it without wishing you hadn't bought it.