Traffic

Rating:
Summary: Congested.
Review: Very long primer on the War on Drugs. It's long because director Steven Soderbergh feels he has to show us EVERYTHING. *Traffic* is three movies in one: the first -- and best -- plot strand involves the moral caginess of a certain Tijuana cop (Bernicio Del Toro) and the multiform levels of ambiguity within Mexican drug enforcement. Clearly, this story deserves fleshing out and deeper concentration -- it needs to be its own movie. But no. There are sops to conventionality that must be thrown to the teeming masses, e.g., the second and third plot strands involving DEA agents on the trail of La Jolla (!) kingpins Steven Bauer and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and a more unrelated story of a newly appointed drug "czar" (Michael Douglas) who learns what it's like to have the War on Drugs waged under one's own roof. The Michael Douglas story is straight out of the "After School Special" milieu: his daughter, with implausible speed, goes from a recreational user to a "crack whore". This is presented with as much banal melodrama as you might expect. The (not really) "bridging" story about the San Diego drug dealers and their DEA trackers comes from Hack Writer's Fantasyland: we're asked to believe that a wealthy, indolent, pregnant housewife (Zeta-Jones), who starts off by worrying about the cholesterol level in her duck-salad, becomes within a few short months Drug-Dealing Catherine the Great of La Jolla, dressed in Prada (accessories by Fendi), toting dolls made entirely of cocaine across the border, ordering Mexican drug cartel bosses around as if they were just so many gardeners or other sorts of hired help that she, as a La Jolla nouveau richie, is accustomed to dealing with. (I live in San Diego and know whereof I speak. By the way, the notion of drug dealers in La Jolla is pretty funny for any San Diegan. Rancho Santa Fe . . . maybe. But LA JOLLA?) Meanwhile, the pair of DEA agents (Don Cheadle and Luiz Guzman) and the informant they're protecting (the always fun-to-watch Miguel Ferrer) provide some chuckles, as well as some Hard Truths about the Futility of the War on Drugs. Soderbergh films each of his mini-movies in a separate color scheme: icy grays and blues for the Drug Czar, hazy sunlight and earthtones for the San Diego shenanigans, and a weird, faded-daguerrotype bright yellow for the Mexico scenes. This somewhat pretentious maneuver will probably be regarded as a fine use of visual interpretation. Despite *Traffic*'s many problems, its congested story threads, and hackneyed characterizations, the cast, at least, is game: very fine performances across the board makes this mess somewhat watchable.

Rating:
Summary: Over-hyped and clumsy
Review: Avoid this bloated piece of self-indulgence. At two-and-a-half hours it should have been cut by a third. *Traffic* tells you everything you need to know about what's wrong with Hollywood films. The fact that it has been nominated for, and won, so many awards is a comment on just how bad the movies surrounding it are. The vaunted "multiple-plot" structure is clumsy, the endless tracking shots become boring very quickly, and realistic character development is non-existent (with the exception of the "Rodrigez" character). The number of improbabilities we are asked to accept is an insult to the intelligence, and the smarmy ending screams of intellectual dishonesty. A number of people are killed, but the emotional impact is practically zero. If you get the chance to watch the British mini-series upon which this film is "based" (i.e. ripped off and dumbed down)grab it - then you'll see a real exploration of the topic of drugs and society. In the meantime, Hollywood continues its run of cliche-ridden films posing as real commentary on complex issues and events (eg. *American Beauty* and *Saving Private Ryan*). The fact that the industry is so self-congratulatory about such dreck demonstrates its artistic bankruptcy.

Rating:
Summary: Style over substance
Review:

It's the same arrogance that led to a plethora of dull, uninspired, pretentious 12 minute 'concept' songs in the 1970s that is behind this style of film.

Traffic has everything: a good cast, an engaging plot, an exciting scenario and a message - so it takes a special kind of skill to ruin it in the way that it has been. A skill that is prominent in art-school classes populated by 20-something know-it-all, upper-middle-class talentless fools who seem to believe that the secret of good film-making is a sepia-coloured filter over the lens, and multiplying the run-time by 2.

In short, a great idea badly made.

Rating:
Summary: Way too long
Review: Sensational photography, a lot of very good acting, but way too long & some really dead spots. Any episode of Miami Vice was still better.

Rating:
Summary: Del Turro and Cheadle got my 2 stars!
Review: I can think of nothing less interesting than "Traffic." I rented the DVD expecting a film meritous of high praise. Instead, I got a good nap. I've seen traffic jams that were more interesting. As a whole, I thought the film was slow, uninspired, and trite. There was nothing new in this film. Like we didn't know that suburban white kids are smackheads, or that drug lords try to find legit fronts for their business, or that governments are the real drug trafficers. I was unimpressed by everything but the performances of Benecio Del Turro and Don Cheadle -- they're the reason I even bothered to give the film any stars at all. If you'd like to see an interesting drug movie, find "Requiem for a Dream." It didn't win any Oscars (though Ellen Burstyn was nominated and lost to Julia Roberts). It barely played in any theatres (due to the mpaa's refusal to rate the film). "Requiem" makes "Traffic" look like a Disney movie...or an Oscar winner. In my opinion, the latter is worse! If you haven't seen it, steer clear from "Traffic."

Rating:
Summary: Predictably, Michael Douglas was horrendous
Review: ...but, unlike the headline above, the rest of the film was actually quite good. Having seen "Erin Brockovich," I wasn't looking forward to much, maybe more glorification of some narrow interpretation of justice or a climactic closure.

Yet it turned out to look good, and "look" is a key word, because I think the cinematography was quite original. But if Soderbergh wants to look European and cinema verite, he should have slashed more of that music.

Nonetheless, I don't give four stars often, and that only means it's worth a look....

Rating:
Summary: Two Traffics(?)
Review: I have become convinced that there are two movies out there with the name Traffic. One is the phenomenal movie that won the Academy award and the other is the movie that I saw. I can't believe that so many people thought that this was such a great movie. It was like watching paint dry, except that once paint has dried, something creative has usually occurred. Traffic was nothing more than one long series of scenes taken from other hack movies that had been pieced together. The script was trite and filled with all the overused cliches from all the movies the scenes were pilfered from. I know that the politicians that appeared throughout the movie are shameless but I expected more from Michael Douglas and the rest of the cast. I don't want to sound too apathetic, but I can read the headlines almost any day of the week and put together more intrigue, suspense, and sense of reality than this movie portrayed. Someone please tell me where I can get a copy of the other Traffic! I know it's out there and just waiting for me to see it and replace the sense of total empty boredom that the version I watched left me with.

Rating:
Summary: Good story
Review: The only problem i have with this film is that mexico is yellow and cleveland is blue. Its like cleveland is cleaner than mexico which is probably true, but not in the drug trade sense. a very dirty film of the high stakes of the drug wars; a war which will never be won unfortunately. After hearing that you probably think this film was a wasted effort, which is probably true, but at least there were some funny things with don cheadle and luis guzman.

Rating:
Summary: Captures realities and absurdities of the war on drugs
Review: Directed by Steven Soderbergh of Erin Brochovich fame, this high-speed intense film delves deeply into the contradictions, absurdities, cruelties and realities of the war on drugs. Loosely based on a British mini-series and now set in a North American locale, it packs a strong punch. One of the story lines takes place in Mexico, filmed in hues of deep yellow and brown, in Spanish with English subtitles. Benicio Del Toro plays a Mexican cop who must constantly make hard choices as he walks a thin line between degrees of corruption. He's a fine actor and I was surprised to discover that he is only 34 years old; he looks much older with his expressive brooding eyes surrounded by dark circles. Michael Douglas is cast as a conservative Ohio judge who is appointed to lead the fight against drugs in Washington while unaware that his 16-year old daughter, played by Erika Christenen, has a drug problem of her own. And then there is Catherine Zeta-Jones, a 31-year old dazzling beauty whose role becomes more complex as her innocence changes when she realizes that her young family is being supported in their upscale San Diego lifestyle by drug money. Two San Diego drug enforcement cops played by Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman provide comic relief.

The film is a full 147 minutes but is never boring as there is tension throughout. It moves fast and skips from story to story, revealing new details which add to its complexity. I found the developments almost impossible to follow, but it soon became apparent that this was by design and actually a mirror of the realities of the situation. With the exception of one small part, the film doesn't preach. Instead it just watches and observes and lets the action and the movement of the characters make its powerful impact. This is a video that I'd like to see again. Now that I've been exposed to the general themes, I'd like to watch it more carefully to follow exactly how, by the end, even the well-meaning people all seemed to contribute to the drug mess which thrives within our culture today. The official tagline says it all. "No one gets away clean." That says it all.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good But Not A Masterpiece
Review: I rented Traffic because of all the hype it got from critics and hearing it got 4 Academy Awards.So I went and rented traffic for 2 and a half hours I sat and watched the whole movie when I finished the movie I had a disappointing look on my face.Yes Traffic is well written,well acted,and has a good story.But the movie is quite boring at times and some scenes were going on forever for a drug movie it's decent and it is worth a rental. If You wanna see a great drug movie see The Insider.