Rating: 
Summary: Traffic
Review: Hollywood has pushed us towards stories with upbeat, tidy endings, that a movie like Traffic is startling. Its subject is the so-called war on drugs, a no-win battle in which there are no heroes and precious few good guys. Rather than offering easy answers, it suggests that we are in so far over our heads trying to stem the flow of cocaine that we are not even asking the right questions.
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Summary: Unforgettable & Haunting
Review: I saw this film for the first time three days ago on video. I have not stopped thinking about it since. While all of the acting is superb, perhaps the most gripping is that of Zeta-Jones. The change in her situation as the movie progresses pulls you in and you may as well be watching a documentary of the neighbor down the street. Michael Douglas and family come off well, certainly not over the top as could have happened with lesser direction. However good the acting in that angle of the movie, I felt that the coincidence of his ascension to US drug czar as his daughter becomes an addict was simply too convenient. While it makes for a great contrast, I didn't buy into it. Del Toro, as you have heard by know, ie the Oscar nomination, is remarkable, despite the fact that much of his dialogue is en espanol. The movie launches with his character and the story is initially purposefully ambiguous, the more reason to keep watching. Even non-technically-minded movie goers will be blown away when they learn that the entire movie was photographed by the director. This movie amply demonstrates that gripping stories and realistic screenplays lead to memorable movies, not huge budgets, cheesy effects and bland actors. I can't wait to watch it again.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece for the New Millenium
Review: In a single sentence, Traffic is one of the most intelligent, intruiging, and invloving movies I have seen in a long time. The performances are excellent by both the new and established actors. Benicio Del Toro gives one of the most honest performances I have ever seen as a mexican police officer teetering between the corruption around him and his love for his country. Michael Douglas in amazingly human in his portrayal of the country's new drug czar, and Catherine Zeta Jones makes us sympathize with the wife of an imprisioned drug dealer. Director Steven Soderbergh weaves a brilliant tapestry with the stories of these four characters. Traffic is more like four seperate movies that move together, as well as in and out of each other, yet you never lose track of what is happening in each story. The handheld-style filming brings you into the movie and it's almost as if you are standing there with the characters filming their actions. The movie is neither depressing nor uplifting, and does not seem to want to convey any opinion the writer or director has about drugs. Instead it seems to simply present views the different characters have, pockets of hope in a sea of hoplesness that is the drug war today. DVD notes: The production notes are interesting and the Behind-The-Scenes featurette gives a good picture of the filmakers. Overall extras: 3.5/5
Rating:
Summary: Traffic Is A Winner
Review: Steven Soderbergh has crafted a visually stunning, deeply moving and intensely brilliant movie in Traffic. The central focus of the film is the drug epidemic in the US and Mexico. He tells three separate stories that are each distinct unto themselves, yet interwoven into a common thread. One story takes place in Mexico and revolves around a cop with a conscious (Benecio Del Toro), the second story takes place in Ohio and Washington and involves the country's new drug czar (Michael Douglas) and the troubles he faces on the job and with his daughter (Ericka Christiansen) who freebases cocaine and descends into a drug addicted hell and the third story takes place in San Diego and involves DEA agents (Don Cheadle & Luis Guzman) trying to take down a big drug trafficker (Stephen Bauer) whose wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) learns the drug trade while he's detained. The film sounds unwielding, but Mr. Soderbergh deftly maneuvers from story to story and you find yourself engrossed in the lives of these characters. Each story is shot in a different style with the Mexico scenes being bright but grainy, the Ohio & Washington scenes in a moody indigo and the San Diego scenes in a sunny, vivid illumination. The cast is full of amazing performances with Mr. Del Toro standing out as the Mexican cop. Most of his dialogue is in Spanish, but it is his expressions that speak volumes. When the camera focuses in on his face, he conveys a sense of a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Mr. Del Toro won a well deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2000. Miguel Ferrer is superb as a key witness in the San Diego case who bristles at the DEA agents and offers a chilling description of the drug situation in the country. Mr. Cheadle is fiery as a DEA agent and Mr. Douglas perfectly portrays a man who is trying fight a national war on drugs but is losing a battle at home. Ms. Christiansen is amazing and her descent into complete addiction is frightenly real. The cast is expansive and includes such stars as Albert Finney, Dennis Quaid, Benjamin Bratt, Selma Hayek and Topher Grace in addition to the others. Mr. Soderbergh had a great 2000 with Traffic and Erin Brockovich and he became the first director in sixty years to be nominated for two movies in the same year and he won the Best Director award for this film.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie...thought provoking!
Review: This was a really good movie. The separate story lines each give you a differing perspective about the war on drugs. The story lines with Michael Douglas and Benisio DelToro were great...each struggling with their own drug-related battles. My only problem with the movie was the story line centered around Catherine Zeta-Jones - wasn't sure why it was there. It never seemed to add to the overall theme of the movie and I was left with a feeling it was added so that Catherine would have something to do while Michael worked. All in all, a good movie that provides good food for thought.
Rating: 
Summary: Better off renting 'Gladiator'
Review: this movie was INCREDIBLY boring. it's a waste of 2 1/2 hours. You're better off with Gladiator or even Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Rating:
Summary: Inside look at the war on drugs
Review: This movie interweaves 3 different stories about the war on drugs. The first one concerns a newly-appointed drug czar in Washington D.C. (Michael Douglas) whose own daughter is a victim of drugs. It shows the two sides of his life, the official one and the personal one in which he watches his daughter slide into a hopeless addiction. The second story concerns a Mexican policeman who tries to do is job but who is caught in a web of deceit by law enforcement officers who are on the take from the cartel. The third story concerns a wealthy businessman who is arrested on drug charges while his wife is totally oblivious to the real source of their wealth. She seems helpless at first, but her survival instinct causes her to learn quickly about how to deal with the world of drugs. Different-colored filters are used liberally to depict the different stories and subtitles are used during the portions shot in Mexico. At times this is a bit distracting, but all in all, the film makers have done a good job in depicting this most serious of social ills in America.
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Summary: Boring and overrated
Review: If there was a way to rate this lower, I would. It's 2 1/2 hours of my life that I will never get back. You would be better off watching paint dry.
Rating:
Summary: Decent, But Not Epic As Some Feel
Review: I felt that had a few scenes been cut to get a shorter running time this film would have been better, but it seems to drag along and by the time you get to the end you're really depressed. But there definitely were some cool scenes with Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman, especially the sniper scene.
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Summary: This Movie is All One Actor
Review: Traffic follows the effective, but not-so-often utilized method of crossing over many stories into one central theme. Another movie for reference may be Magnolia. It is a presentation about the institution, effect, and battle against drugs. On one side you have an unknowing wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who must take over a drug empire once her husband (candidly played by Steven Bauer) is indicted on trafficking charges. On the other, is the newly appointed "drug czar" (Michael Douglas), who attempts to "go to the front" and attack the enigmatic problem of curbing the demand for drugs in the U.S. Interestingly, all the while, his daughter (a straight A student with a seemingly bright future) is falling victim to her own battle with drugs. The story does not stop there. Perhaps the most provocative, though hardest-to-follow aspect, is the corruption that befalls Benicio Del Toro's character, Javier Rodriguez. He brilliantly plays a common Tijuana cop who discovers an army-run drug ring, and throughout the movie, internally battles with himself about whether or not he should share his knowledge with the D.E.A. in the States, all the while fearing for his life in the process. Although the Mexico sequences seem at first not to correlate with the rest of the movie, and the subtitles are difficult to follow (the only movie with subtitles that I really enjoy is Seven Samurai), it is Del Toro's performance and the fate of his character that make you want to watch. Put another way, he is not the reason I went to see the movie in the theaters, but he was the reason I stayed. And although it might be crude to say that the whole movie's credibility falls on him, Del Toro was defintely deserving of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar he won for this role. The movie itself attempts to approach the "drug issue" from an objective standpoint, and for the most part it does. There are times when the script is lagging, but that tends to appear in many movies. I would rate this movie at 4.5 stars, leaving only the landmark films to become 5s. For an interesting, thought-provoking film go see this movie.
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