Rating: 
Summary: traffic stops short
Review: i am not going totype awhole story,just wanna say i seen traffic a few months ago at aprivate screening in l.a...the movie needs work, it is entertaining at times but falls short on story telling, most of the film mike douglas with his stupid grin is running all over town looking for his daughter and by some miricle keeps finding her( yea right)...the only thing that is worth watching is benico del toros perfomance...the ending lies flat,it leaves you wondering what happened?????wait for the video. chris arizary...rahway nj
Rating: 
Summary: A true American Dogma Movie at last
Review: It's great to see a major American director use the techniques of the Danish collective Dogme 95 (hand-held camera, available light, no fx, location shooting) & integrate them so brilliantly into a major motion picture released by a Hollywood studio. Soderbergh deserves every award out there for both his brilliant direction & his equally adroit and innovative cinematography. Benicio Del Toro deserves to become a star the way Al Pacino did after the original Godfather. No true cinema lover should miss this.
Rating:
Summary: Eye-opening while Engrossingly Entertaining
Review: This movie was riveting from beginning to end, from script to cinematography, from lead roles (especially Benicio and Cheadle) to bit characters (Frankie Flowers). And most rewarding was the feeling that while being enormously entertained (lots of action, suspense, compelling characters, shoot-outs, blood, sex, the whole nine) Soderbergh's story (which clearly credits its genesis in that BBC documentary) also reveals many necessary and unpretty truths about what the war against drugs is really capable of, as well as how that (in)capability is one that we wouldn't have any other way. I wallowed in it's dark hopelessness and only regreted the few glimmers of hope at the end that seemed marginally inconsistant and insincere. But I guess some folks sleep better at night because of that kind of stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Soderbergh is King of the Hill
Review: While I was watching "Traffic," I kept wondering what Orson Welles would've thought of it because it was so reminiscent of "Touch of Evil." I think Welles would've found Traffic worthy of comparison to his masterpiece. I loved Benicio del Toro's portrayal of an honest Mexican cop discovering the futility of his drug enforcement activities. It was refreshing to see the parts set in Mexico conveyed in Spanish with English subtitles rather than in English with Spanish accents. Contrary to popular opinion, I think Americans can deal with subtitles. The naturalistic quality of the entire movie was also very effective. I mean, the lighting and color schemes were artistic and deliberate but the movement of the story and characters flowed naturally. I also enjoyed seeing Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman on-screen together. Overall, I think every Soderbergh movie is worth viewing, and Traffic is definitely worth seeing.
Rating:
Summary: Soderbergh strikes again
Review: Another top-notch effort from Soderbergh. A complex, cynical look at our highly unsuccessful "War On Drugs" viewed from several different angles. First there is Michael Douglas as the newly appointed Drug Czar who finds the problem hitting closer to home than he'd ever expect. Then there is Benicio Del Toro, a mexican cop caught up in a power struggle between rival drug kingpins. Then there are Don Cheadle and Luiz Guzman as DEA officers on the trail of an American drug-lord whose wife, Katherine Zeta jones, is totally unaware of her husband's chosen trade.The film is very well shot, visually captivating...the performances are strong throughout especially from Benicio, who ought to be an oscar favorite. Guzman and Cheadle, two favorites of mine, are also wonderful together, in roles that may have seemed kinda corny in the hands of lesser actors. At this point there can be little doubt Soderbergh is one of the major filmmakers of our generation, and any project with his name on it is a must-see. "Traffic" is no exception.
Rating:
Summary: Bold, ambitious, exciting & brilliant...
Review: Thank god for Steven Soderbergh. He's created an ambitious, audacious, thrilling, and intelligent epic that's definitely the best American film of 2000. The film is kinetically charged with emotional and visceral energy. Soderbergh keeps us alert and our moral compass spinning by throwing us multiple points of view through his different characters & stories. The ensemble cast is uniformly superb, but Benicio Del Toro stands tall with the breakout performance of the year. His quiet, simmering intensity deserves every kudo. This is a must see.
Rating: 
Summary: A Tasteless, Talentless CopyCat Production:
Review: This movie is a complete ripoff of "Traffik" by Simon Moore , who's BBC production of this story won an Emmy for best foreign drama some years ago - it galls me that Big Shots Soderburgh and Michael Douglas have resorted to ripping off others ideas because thier empty heads are incapable of writing anything good of thier own. If any 1 is interested in seeing the original it is available thru BBC video or the Masterpeice Theatre collection on PBS.org...shame on you Soderburgh, and we arent surprised by you Douglas.
Rating:
Summary: Soderbergh Strikes Again
Review: I guess I'm a late bloomer Soderbergh fan because Out of Sight was the first film of his that I saw, but the way it was put together was hot to me and so I was really excited to see Traffic. A buddy of mine is friends with someone at USA and got us into a preview screening last week, the movie is awesome. Soderbergh is a clever guy and the way each of the story lines are put together with a different look and feel is pretty cool. The other thing is the stellar performances that this guy gets out of his cast. Benicio Del Toro was amazing, it was nice to see Catherine Zeta Jones playing a hard ass, there's a bunch of cameo's, but standouts to me are the duo of Luis Guzman and Don Cheadle. These guys are very funny as DEA agents staking out Zeta Jones and they will get the recognition they deserve as actors after this film. Did I mention Benicio Del Toro, his performance is oscar caliber and hopefully he gets his this time. So, enough blabber, cool film. Nice to see big dollar pictures made that aren't all gloss and smiles.
Rating:
Summary: Del Toro! Del Toro! Del Toro!
Review: Benicio Del Toro owns this movie. He gives a truly extraordinary perfomance of rich nuance and subtlety. He doesn't chew scenery or display any actorly pyrotechnics. Instead, he give a focused intense performance that conveys his character's inner moral torment mostly through non-verbal means. Steven Soderbergh working at the top of his form as both director and cinematographer does the best work of his career. It's thrilling to see a film of this kind of ambition and depth.
Rating: 
Summary: Flat out, lousy movie-making
Review: This is a frustrating film for many reasons. Firstly the schizophrenia of the plotlines is poorly done and distracting. It merely further hindered me from actually gaining any sort of emotional connection to the characters (and that's counting the headstart the dialogue had given). The themes of the movie are so apparent that they become oppressive. A previous reviewer encapsulated the film with the phrase: Drugs R bad, and while I can appreciate a noble premise like this, the way Soderbergh badgers the audience with the futility of the "war on drugs" and the affect that drugs have on addicts is devoid of tact and feels contrived to the point of nausea. The characters are not well-developed either. Their actions are completely obvious. While this is not usually a just complaint about a movie, the lack of intrigue in the plot, the often cheesy dialogue, and the general lack of subtlety makes for an obnoxiously assuming film. It comes across not only snobbish to the layperson, but boring to the average movie-goer. This movie really drags. This is an in-escapable fact. There were too many trifling scenes in this movie. But that's just how it rubbed me. Although, I can see how many a pseudo-intellectual film buff could trick himself into gushing about how thought-provoking and "original" this film was, I can also see how many critics and sincere film-goers would like it as well. The message is certainly an important point of discussion regardless of how you feel on the issue, and the conclusions leave much to be debated (although, not about the film) My main point is this: Unless you're interested in grinding your way through a movie with a plot that can be summarized in the political/humanitarian issue of the film, it's not worth seeing. If you're interested in drug-related issues, do yourself a favor and simply walk, don't run to your nearest bookstore and sift through the myriad of books on the matter. Heck, why not (since you're online anyway) look through one of the lists here at Amazon.com?!
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