Rating: Summary: Best Picture Nominee? Review: Having heard that this should have been the Best Picture winner for 2000, I was extremely disappointed instead. The movie was long, dull and at times very predictable. However, the portions of the movie that featured Catherine Zeta Jones and Benicio Del Toro were decent. Benicio Del Toro's Oscar was well deserved. The Michael Douglas portion was right out of any bad 80's movie about the "horrors of drug abuse". Forget about best picture honors, how the heck did it even get nominated? As far as DVD's go, this was pathetic. Rent it for curiosity, but don't waste the money buying it.
Rating: Summary: A review of the movie, not the DVD Review: This is probably the best movie that came out last year. I'll admit i didn't see every movie, but i don't know how one could be much better. It deserved the "Best Picture" Oscar instead of "Gladiator". It is infinitely better. Steven Soderbergh's use of color for the three different locations was a great idea, and the movie is just fantastic. It is slightly disturbing and probably not for the faint-hearted, but it is very good.
Rating: Summary: PRETTY GOOD MOVIE....BAD ENDING Review: THE PERFORMANCES IN TRAFFIC ARE EXCELLENT. IT IS A STRONG FILM, HOWEVER, THE ENDING IS A DISAPPOINMENT. NOT WORTH BUYING BUT GOOD TO RENT IF YOU HAVE THE PATIENCE TO SIT DOWN FOR OVER TWO HOURS AND YOU DON'T MIND SUBTITLES.
Rating: Summary: Really boring Movie Review: This movie was slow, and never got to the point
Rating: Summary: Good, But... Review: This was a decent, well-acted film, yet I find it problematic. First, lets look at the realism of the film: I understand what the filmmakers are getting at, saying no family is immune to the "drug problem" with the Drug Czar's little girl free-basing, and, sure, it's possible, but probable? Not really. Instances such as this, as well as Catherine Zeta Jones taking over her husband's drug business, descend this film into moral allegory but the situations are too Hollywood-ized to take seriously. Sometimes, this is another lame SUBURBANITES, BEWARE! movie. Michael Douglas proves his lameness once again when he doesn't even have enough juevos to get a gun and get his daughter back from the drug dealer. I mean, come on, everything in the film is so fantastic anyways, the one instance where most men would have really gone berserk, he wimps out? Lame. Most men would have gone back with a shotgun and tried to get their daughter whether they were killed or not. Michael Douglas' character, on the other hand, lets this snot-nosed wimpy teenager lecture him on politically correct BS about the ghetto and drug trade while his daughter is hanging out up in the crack house? Whatever. If that was me, I would have beat that punk Seth's face into the ground. Just listening to his drivel made me want to throw up. The other problem I have with this film, a more serious flaw in my opinion, is that, ultimately, all it does is flush out the complexities of the "drug problem" in an overblown, pure Hollywood kind of way. The most telling line of the film is when Michael Douglas says "If we wage a war on drugs, we're waging war on our own families. And I don't see how you can wage war on your own family."Well, welcome to Adult Land, Michael, I hope you enjoy your stay! Know what? Prosecuting bank robbers, murderers, traffic offenders, rapists and counterfiters also disrupts families! This film doesn't provide any relevant new insight into the drug problem, in my opinion, all it does is snip at the heels of the "establishments" war on drugs and rally against a percieved-white, suburban mindset of naivety. To me, this was like a seventeen year old, bitter white boy's treatise on drugs gone out of control. In the end, it was circular and old material. I don't understand all of the praise. Entertaining, but that's about it.
Rating: Summary: Not really worth the hype. Review: Yes-the acting was superb. Yes-it carried good messages-the war against drugs is hopeless, and if you get hooked on drugs your life is close to hopeless. It was too much of a documentary, though. There wasn't anyone likeable in this movie, either. It came across to me as boring and depressing. I wasn't riveted. It had it's good points, but the hype surprises me. I wonder if it's one of those movies everyone claims to like because everyone else claims to like it and if you say you don't like it, you are considered a fool.
Rating: Summary: Just like sitting in Traffic Review: Unfortunately I went to see this film in the theatre. It had potential but halfway through the movie we are to believe that Zeta Jones turns from naive house wife into a street smart, tough negotiator with a drug cartel. Come on! The acting was good but it never kept my attention. I guess it was suppose to show how drugs affect everyone in our society. The message was delivered but boring none the less.
Rating: Summary: Excellent DVD Review: This was one of the best movies of 2000. Benecio Del Toro's performance was mesmerizing. Extremely good storytelling through melding of performances and editing. Highly recommended.
Rating: Summary: OH PLEASE!!!! Review: WTH?? What in the world is wrong with you people? What is there to like about this "movie"(this monstrosity doesn't even deserve that title) Traffic does nothing more than bore, depress, and thoroughly annoy. Michael Douglas is a great actor, did they build a freakin' robot that looks like him, who has no expression(besides coldness), goes from one official building to the next and mumbles and nods to some officials? That was his role thru this entire movie. No more. And his piece of trash daughter going from a typical, casual drug addict to a ... in a week and then pissing and moaning at an AA meeting a week later? Sure, sure. Are we supposed to feel sympathy for her now? I wished her dad would have just disowned her and let her descend into hell. And the La Jolla segement in San diego--I'm laughing. HA HA. So Don Cheadle's partner is iced, his key witness iced, and he WALKS into the San Diego drug lords home, past the guards,creates a scene, and manages to plant a bug under a table? THAT'S how they ended it? Christ, I'm all for viewers' interpretation and imagination, but a BUG? There's no way to even contemplate what the outcome of that segment would be. Maybe the bug picked up sounds of Catherine Zeta-Jones and her druggie husband getting it on in the bedroom. Maybe someone found it and ripped it out and smiled about how smart they were. Do we care? Catherine Zeta-Jones' character was loathsome and paper-thin. She's a rich yuppie who's made out to be a caring,naive, loving mother, who after her drug lord hubbie's arrest, becomes a conniving, ruthless, murderous, drug-dealing witch for no other reason than to keep her fat, rich lifestyle? Why would she even care about her husband? It just goes to show you how pathetic and cruel congenitally wealthy people are. The only redeeming part of the movie was the segment shot in Mexico, with a yellow, grainy look. That and the subtitles made those scenes feel really genuine. Benecio del Toro does a good job as the honest cop, who is the only hero in this movie and you feel his pain as he is caught between the U.S and Mexico drug cartels.Also, this is the only segement in the movie with a believable conclusion! But the ending of the film--did I miss something? No, no, no. Actually the ending was perfect. I needed to return the video in ten minutes or I would be charged another $4.00! So there was the cop, watching the baseball game, and the movie ended! Sweet! The hype is misplaced, the Oscars are unwarranted, the characters are loathsome,the three parts of the movie are hopelessly disconnected, and the basic message is,"the drug war cannot be won, its hopeless, so lets just wait for superman to come flying along and make it all better" (Two stars only for the nicely contrasting visuals and the different camera angles) **My personal opinion on drug addicts: I fully agree with General Salazar. If there is one thing this movie conveys right, its that there is no point in rehabilitating or redeeming addicts. They are scum who have messed up their lives all on their own. Nobody held a gun to their head and told them to get high. Let them go to hell. That's what I think anyway.
Rating: Summary: Deserved best picture.... Review: Steven Soderbergh is a sensational director and showed his ability in creating this great movie. I personally believe that Traffic deserved to win Best Picture over Gladiator. This movie has a great cast of actors (personally my favorite Benicio Del Toro), and the great cast is just a little special feature as what this movie has to offer on the war on drugs in America today. I just love the message it sends out about our U.S government..This is a must-own dvd for your collection.
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