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Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 22-MAY-2007
Media Type: DVD | | | |
List Price:
| $9.99 | |
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| | Product Details | | Actors: | Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jacob Vargas, Andrew Chavez | | Director: | Steven Soderbergh | | Format: | Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language: | English, Spanish | | Number of Discs: | 1 | | Studio: | Universal Studios | | Run Time: | 147 minutes | | DVD Release Date: | June 25, 2002 | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 533 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review:
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 Read Predator Down Jul 12, 2010
This movie left me thinking about drug abuse for many weeks. I loved the scenery, the story, the charachters. The scenes in Mexico were so real. The drug abuse so real, the fight so real. What is going on with the drug war now in Mexico just goes to show you how real Traffic really is. I am thinking how much worse it is getting. This is a powerful movie with serious impact.
I strongly recommend reading Predator Down concerning another type of abuse which reminded me so much of Traffic Predator Down
Time has been kind to this film... May 18, 2010
My personal feelings for `Traffic' as a whole have had quite the yo-yo effect. When I first saw the film I really loved it. Over time my adoration has dwindled but upon a recent viewing I have come to respect it more than I think I ever have. While it is still a flawed work and one that I don't consider a major triumph, I feel as though the ambitious nature of the film is worth applauding and consider it a very integral part of this past decade.
The film tells three separate stories that overlap telling a fuller story concerning the war on drugs here in the US. We have the newly appointed government drug czar, Robert Wakefield, who struggles with his new assignment as well as with his wayward daughter Caroline, who has a serious drug habit of her own. We also have Helena Ayala, the beautiful yet naïve wife of a recently incarcerated drug-kingpin. And then we have Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro in his Oscar winning role), the conflicted police officer who serves as the films moral center; one of shifting focus and impending consequence.
While at times it feels as though it bites off more than it can chew, there is so much going on here that it seems to more than make up for its faults.
The acting here is pretty much sensational. Del Toro is the standout, delivering a natural and completely inhabited performance, but he is not the only actor at the top of their game. Michael Douglas, who is not an actor I am overly fond of, delivers his best performance, in my humble opinion, as a concerned parent folding under the pressure or raising awareness as well as a daughter. Speaking of that daughter, Erika Christensen is simply brilliant here. The way she constructs her characters addiction is heartbreaking and sincere. This film is all about grit and realism and she masters that with her beautifully tragic performance.
Don Cheadle, Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace and Catherine Zeta-Jones only form a small fraction of this talented cast.
The true star of the show here is director Steven Soderbergh. With a film that tries to do so much, Soderbergh keeps throwing it at us, visually as well as thematically. Where the script may drop the ball or find itself (at times) bogged down, Soderbergh makes sure that the visual feast before us is captivating yet raw and unnerving. While I would not have handed him the director award myself, I totally understand why he got it. He takes each story and builds its own separate mood and feel yet ties each story in, creating a cohesive and complex portrayal of human interaction and suffering.
There is a universal `flow' that permeates this film and makes it work even when it technically shouldn't.
So, in the end I highly recommend this. My rating is back to an A because, despite its flaws, `Traffic' is a great film that works to its strengths and delivers in the end. It is a film that definitely understands its subject and it is something we can appreciate and glean from even now, ten years down the road.
1 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Just As Timely Now Dec 11, 2009
"Traffic" is as timely now as when it was released in 2000. The American belief in the efficacy of the "War on Drugs" is put to the test in this movie. Michael Douglas plays the newly appointed drug czar, and he learns firsthand from his own daughter what a fruitless and pitiful effort is this thing we call the "War on Drugs." As long as there is an insatiable demand for drugs in the United States, there will never be anything called a victory. The efforts put into the supply side are shown to be farcical. On the supply side corruption and crime are endemic.
The war is really a series of skirmishes. Failures in the "drug war" cause many deaths and misery.
The movie is told in a series of stories with each of the storylines having a set of characters that at times intersect and form the bigger picture. Two detectives on the American side (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman) in San Diego are tracking a drug ring while two detectives on the Mexican side in Tijuana are going after a major cartel. One of the Mexican cops, Javier, is played brilliantly by Benicio Del Toro.
The American drug boss and his wife form one of the story strands. In an effort to save her husband she becomes as ruthless and cold-blooded as he.
What "Traffic" illustrates is that it's the actions and honesty of ordinary cops who win small victories in the "war against drugs" that count, not the futile efforts of misdirected national movements.
The movie is long, but fascinating and worth sticking with. Some scenes are filmed in sepia tones. It's an intense and very significant and pertinent film.
1 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Typical hollywood BS! Aug 16, 2009
I just didn't see what was so good about this movie, I mean the acting was alright and the cast were suited but the entire 3 storylines have no connections at all (except their all drug related). It was constantly jumping from story to another back and forth in other states and in mexico and it made no sense at all to just make all the characters in their own separate drug stories and life and not have em put together for atleast a better storyline and that was the most annoying part of this movie. Infact that was the biggest horrific flaw of why I dislike this horrible movie other than less action and more boring scenes to pass me out for almost 3 hours.
Really terrible boring hard to follow movie with undeserving awards!
I regret buying this movie and im glad I got rid of this horrible movie at my local movie stop store for a few bucks but it was worth it!
 Unique Take On The Border Drug War Jun 06, 2009
This is an ugly story in parts but still fascinating to watch for the unique way it's presented, especially for those who like a different visual/audio approach.
As for the acting, Michael Douglas usually plays interesting roles and this is no exception. Benicio Del Toro got an Oscar for his role but I don't know why. He wasn't anything that special. Personally, I liked Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman in here better with the latter adding some much-needed humor to the film. Miguel Ferrer was also intense as the bad guy, "Eduardo Ruiz."
The two kids who played Douglas's daughter and her boyfriend (Erika Christensen and Topher Grace, respectively), received no billing on the back on the DVD but they had major roles. They must have done a good job because they really irritated me. The girl's descent into drug hell was not pleasant to view. This is not an easy story to watch, or comprehend everything that's going on. It also is not one with a happy message.
The visuals were great with many all-sepia toned scenes, or all blue hues. Scenes changed every two minutes to a different ongoing. You had to really pay attention but I never found myself drifting away from the story.
It isn't just the unique visuals; it's an interesting and disturbing story.
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