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Traffic 2000 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
R, 145 min. (drug use, language, violence, sexuality) |
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Starring: Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Erika Christensen, Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman, Steven Bauer, Miguel Ferrer, Amy Irving, Dennis Quaid, Jacob Vargas, Albert Finney
Producers: Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, L. Bickford
Screenplay: Stephen Gaghan
Cinematography: Steven Soderbergh
Distributor: USA Films
Released: 12.27.00 (Limited), 1.05.01 (Wide) |
Rating:
  (out of ) |
This is a riveting motion picture that tears at the heart of the drug problem, one of corruption at the
highest levels, and the almost helplessness one feels at finding a solution to it. The drug
trafficking into the U.S. is well-known, but the degree to which both sides will go to regulate
this billion-dollar enterprise is depressing.
Michael Douglas plays a new U.S. drug czar who tries to clean up the drug problem in the country. He
is unaware of how the bad the problem is until he is confronted with the revelation that his own
daughter (Erika Christensen) is a drug addict. Christensen gives a convincing performance as an
intelligent but misguided teenager who falls into the world of drugs and will do anything for her
next fix, including escaping from a rehab center. She shows an incredible range for an actor her
age as she shows innocence and desperation at the same time.
Del Toro's depiction of a torn Mexican police officer will almost surely win him the best supporting
Oscar from the mainstream-voting Academy. Although not quite at the level of Willem Dafoe's
performance in Shadow of the Vampire, Del Toro is at the top of his game here. He is torn between
two drug cartels in Mexico. He can work for one of them or turn them into the DEA in America. In
the process he loses his partner and friend and has to make some difficult decisions about his own
stance on the drug trade.
Zeta-Jones plays the part of a confused and shocked wife of a drug lord who has recently been arrested
for drug trafficking. She slowly turns from an innocent woman to a full-time partner in crime for her
husband, as she knows nothing else she can do. It is a good performance, but is overshadowed by the
other performances in the film.
The movie is woven together with different simultaneous stories, each integral to the whole of the
picture. This is where director Steven Soderbergh comes in, and why he does a brilliant job at
telling the story coherently. He shows the drug problem as it is, and that's appropriately
depressing. You leave the theater wondering how anyone can solve the drug problem in this
country - it is almost like a terrible disease, one that reaches every person regardless of class
or ethnic background. And it's effects are far-reaching and devastating, usually resulting in death
or destruction if left unchecked. That's what makes this movie powerful, it forces you to look at
the truth and admit that we have a problem.
© 2001 Jonathan Cornwell
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 |
 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
| Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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