Rating: 
Summary: "Hometown Pride?"
Review: I was blown away by the reality of the war on drugs. Soderbergh shows us how real the situation is. It's not only happening on the streets, in Latin America, but right here, in our own homes. As a native of Cincinnati, growing up here, attending private school, and now a university that is close to where the "street" scenes were shot, I have seen both ends of the spectrum. And that is, drugs are prevalent, if you want them bad enough, anybody can get them. Many parents of the students Soderbergh chose to depict in Traffic were furious and outraged, this movie only furthers my belief that some parents don't know the world their son/daughter is living in. This movie is a wake-up call to parents, don't be naive.The cast was amazing to say the least. Douglas played a very respectable and believeable father and drug czar. Zeta-Jones played a strong wife, mother and eventually businessman as her lifestlye was threatened. Luis Guzman, Don Cheandle and the guy from "That 70's Show" provided great comical relief, surprising cameos by Benjamin Bratt and the beautiful Salma Hayek. Benecio Del Toro was incredible, his quiet struggle in choosing between right and wrong was award winning. The three storylines were nicely intertwined; the photography and color in the Tijuana scenes were classic. A very good film, highly recommended. Great cast, great script, brought drugs to the forefront. Soderbergh created a movie out from a very touchy subject, and the constant, never-ending struggle that will follow.
Rating:
Summary: Great but not spectacular
Review: Don't get me wrong. "Traffic" is a truly great film. It's very original. As a movie, though, it doesn't do justice to any films about drugs. There are hundreds of films about the inevitable addiction, but "Traffic" isn't one of those films that defines drug films in general. If you're a fan of director Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich), then without a doubt, you're going to love this film. However, if you're very much of a mainstream moviegoer, then your view is on a 50/50 basis. This near three hour drug epic is centered around four stories, (people say three but it seems like four), with two agents protecting a criminal who's about to testify against a drug lord, his wife ends up taking over the family business while he sits in jail. Meanwhile, a Mexican cop struggles with the blur between right and wrong while working for a corrupt general, who intends on cornering the drug market as the country's drug czar, the fellow drug czar he's to meet is a newly appointed man who comes across the news that his straight shooter of a daughter is a junkie. The cinematography of the film captures the atmosphere and mood of the film with it's rusty and sunny visuals depicting these characters. The performances are all around great particularly with Benicio Del Toro's cop, Michael Douglas' put upon father, and frequent Soderbergh actors Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman as wiseacre DEA agents. As well as Miguel Ferrer as the targeted informant and Dennis Quaid as a shady lawyer. Soderbergh's use of the steadycam is throughout the entire film to have a raw documentary feel to it. This may annoy some, it may be intriguing to others. I found some if it to be necessary and then parts of it when it was totally uncalled for. The film is a raw education into the minds of the people whose lives revolve around drugs. Some work with it, some against it. It's statement is that the war on drugs is totally inevitable. While it's entertaining, it also has an impact to it. "Traffic" is most definitely an intriguing movie but it's for very serious minded moviegoers.
Rating: 
Summary: Best of 2000............... by far
Review: Hailed by critics across the nation, Traffic is the most critically acclaimed film of the year, and for good reason. Rather than summarize the plot, I'm just going to say that this film ranks amongst the true classics and will be for many years to come. This is the odds on favorite for best picutre, lets hope the academy makes the right decision. Ignore all those who try to convince by using "big words" that this film isn't what they say it is. Those people trying to make themselves look smart by trying to convince you that they can see the films "faults" that we can't. Or they didn't understand the film at all and should stick to Adam Sandler movies. P.S The teen performances were outstanding, we were "snickering" in acknoledgement that we have all been through that "parents don't understand us" phase.
Rating:
Summary: Drug Story... Exhilirating!
Review: Described by The Hollywood Reporter as doing "for drug trafficking what Nashville did for country music", this ensemble drama includes representative characters from all stages of both sides of the War on Drugs. At the center of the story is state judge Robert Lewis (Douglas) who has become the USA's newest drug czar. What he doesn't know, however, is that the drug war extends into even his own home, as his teen daughter (Christensen) is addicted to crack and heroin, introduced to the world of drugs by her boyfriend (Topher Grace). (Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Helen Montoya, a former housewife turned drug smuggler; Quaid plays her attorney; Irving plays Douglas' wife).
Rating: 
Summary: Not Convinced
Review: The whole concept of Traffic is good but i can't help feeling that it could of been portrayed better. The cast list was good, Catherine Zeta Jones was excellent as the unjust house wife who later joins in with her husbands business. The film is about drugs and how the Americans and the Mexicans are trying to stop the war on drugs. The film keeps swopping from Mexico and America so many times that the person that i went with got all confused and that ruined the film for her. The plot of the film was good so i can't slate that i just wish that it wasn't all over the place. Overall i would see the film again but i won't be my alltime favourite.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best films of 2000. 4 1/2 Stars!
Review: Traffic. Its a modern movie all about the flow and use of drugs all over the country. In the film there is actually 4 stories going on at once, always switching around between them and sometimes they interweave and all having something to do with drugs. One is with the country's new drug czar Robert Wakefield(wonderfully played by Michael Douglas) dealing with the war against drugs in our country and later finding out his own daughter is an addict. Another is with a young California wife(Catherine Zeta-Jones)finding out her husband is a drug dealer after his arrest. Another is with two DEA agents trying to track down a major drug dealer. And the final one is with a Mexican man(Benicio Del Toro)who is recruited to work on taking out a drug cartel in Tijuana, Mexico. The film is wonderfully acted and directed. Steven Soderbergh's direction gives the film its own unique look which gives it a lot of intensity. I hope it wins some oscars this year. The only thing that disapointed me about the film was the lack of action, I thought it would have had more. But its more a crime/drama. Definetly reccomened! Rated R for drug use, profanity, nudity, sexual situations, and some violence.
Rating: 
Summary: An "R" rated after-school special
Review: This has got to be the most heavy-handed, patronizing film of all time. The performances of all the teenagers (especially the one who played the daughter) were cheesy and laughable. I was surrounded by snickers when I saw this in the theatre. Even more ridiculous is just how much people go on about the "realistic" portrayal of the drug problem. Realistic? Douglas just happens to become nation's drug czar at the same time that his daughter becomes a drug-obsessed, skid row prostitute--while maintaining "all A's" at her exclusive prep school. When her husband gets thrown in the can, Zeta-Jones transforms overnight from happy housewife to sangfroid assassin and drug queen. I'm sure we can all relate. If it weren't for that enlightening Orrin Hatch cameo, this would've been just another one-star wonder.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best films of the year
Review: There's a scene early in Traffic in which a group of preppy teenagers basically ramble on about nothing and snort cocaine. It's a fascinating, disturbingly gritty, and brutally realistic scene, but it also makes you think about why kids take drugs to begin with. Kids don't shove sticks of marijuana into other kids' mouths and make them take it at gunpoint, like many people think. No, this scene suggests that it's much more casual than that. All these kids, in their isolation and boredom, are connected, and drugs seem to further that connection. These are the kinds of things you think about throughout, and long after, Traffic, Steven Soderburgh's brilliant, gripping, thought-provoking new film that grapples with the drug war. It tells three separate stories (which, since I have limited space, I'm not going to go into; they're posted on the offcial review), and Soderburgh's, working from Stephen Gaughen's taut, brainy, wonderful adaptation of the Brtish miniseries Trffik (which was over six hours long), directs brilliantly. He uses different hues and colors for his different stories (ice blue for Ohio and D.C., sandy yellow for Mexico, etc.), and while it takes a few minutes to adjust to his style (colors, jump cuts, etc.), it ultimately proves to set a magnificent mood and tone for the film. He keeps the two and a half hour film fascinating (compared to the hour and a half Head Over Heels, the time flies), and he juggles his three stories superbly, each of them fascinating as they slowly intertwine. And Soderburgh lets a outstanding cast shine. Douglas, in his second great performance of the year, shines as Robert Wakefield, Erica Krisstensian (sp?), in a brave perforamnce, pulls no punches as Douglas's druggie daughter. Catherine Zeta Jones is a revelation. She is at first tender and vulnerable, slowly becoming a shrewd, ruthless businessman, in a wonderful transformation. Don Cheadle, Luz Guzman, etc.; all outstanding. And Benicio Del Toro, wearing sags under his tired eyes like badges of survival, gives a quietly powerful, deeply haunting performance. But ultimately, this is Soderburgh's film, and he asks many tough questions and tells us a bleak truth: that as long as drugs are woven into the fabric of Americana, as long as there's corruption and greed, as long as there's supply and demand, the drug war can't be won. Yet Soderburgh also implies that the only way to beat drugs is personally, one addict at a time. It's this little ray of sunlight amidst the storm that gives Traffic heart as well as brains, and makes it one of the best pictures of the year. A
Rating:
Summary: Utterly gripping!
Review: I must admit I dreaded seeing this movie at first. I thought it'd be unrelentingly grim, violent, unpleasant. After all, it's about drug trafficking. I was pleasantly surprised. It was an exciting, thoughtful movie, and most of all, had none of the Hollywood smugness that usually permeates movies liek this. You know, where there are a million clever plot twists, everyone is bad, and it all climaxes with a bloody shootout. This movie examines all sides of the drug problem, from the drug czar (Michael Douglas) whose daughter is a crack addict to a heroic Mexican cop (Benicio del Tores) whose bosses are just as corrupt as the drug czar, with remarkable balance and lack of sensationalism. This is an ensemble piece, and there are excellent performances by all, including Catherine Zeta Jones as the high-class, take-no-prisoners wife of a drug trafficker, Michael Douglas, who gives his role as the self-righteous drug czar unexpected sympathy and dignity, Dennis Quaid, as a smarmy lawyer, and most of all, Benicio del Torres, who emerges as the movie's heart and soul. Steven Soderbergh absolutely refuses to glamorize either drug use, the drug traffickers, nor the drug enforcement officers. All are both sympathetic and appalling at the same time. In short, a wonderful, thoughtful movie. See it!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant ensemble cast!
Review: Although I do not think Traffic fits as the "best movie of the year", it is definately worth paying for. It is a raw, fast paced movie about drug trafficing, staring actors like Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Benicio Del Toro and many others, especially my favorite TV actor, Topher Grace of That 70's Show. The casting involved in this movie is the best I've seen in a long time. It is one of those rare movies, all of the actors are perfectly casted to their characters! I think this movie stands out from others that way. If you're not really interested in the story, see it for the acting.
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