Traffic (2000)

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Blistering performances.

My first thought for this movie is that I want to see it again. I found parts of it very hard to follow, mainly the Mexico story line, but I think that the things that I missed on my first viewing will give me a better appreciation of the movie as a whole once I understand them better. There was a lot that I liked in how it handled the drug issue in my first viewing, especially in the Wakefield family line. It is good that the movie shows the different aspects of the war on drugs with the foreign war in Mexico, the domestic dealers and the empire surrounding it, and perhaps most importantly the individual addicts.One could argue that the movie gets too preachy at a couple points, but for the most part the dialogue maintains a realistic tone that is concerned more with being a narrative than an infomercial on drugs. However, I did have some problems with the long runtime. Most of the time I don't mind movies that are longer than the conventional 2 hours, but in this case, there were enough scenes that dragged that I got bored. There are really only a few scenes that I remember clearly, a few months after watching it, which doesn't speak great to the movie's ability to engage the viewer. Still, I remember that it was eye-opening to how complex the war on drugs is and how difficult winning the war is. I guess that shows my hand as an anti-drug person, so I will say now that this is not a movie that pro-drug people will like. The movie doesn't exactly tear down people who take drugs or overly demonize them, but it is intended to show the futility of the war on drugs, which by definition makes it anti-drug. That's just something to be aware of if you're considering watching it. It's also not concerned with showing any drug rehab process as in something like Trainspotting.In a technical sense, it is easy to tell that there were a lot of deliberate decisions made with the different color tones in the different story lines and the lack of score and the handheld camera. I suppose it was to good effect, though not the best that I've seen. I was surprised that it got as much Oscar recognition as it did, but I suppose 2000 was sort of a lower year for movies. Not to say that Traffic didn't deserve its awards, but it was surprising to me that there was nothing better to beat it out in its categories. The acting was all pretty good too, not spectacular but good for the story. I wouldn't recommend this as something to watch for fun as it's a pretty heavy movie. I watched it because I had to, and while I thought it was pretty good it still got to be a little bit dense. It is a good movie, but I would recommend watching it alone and as food for thought rather than entertainment. Overall Rating: 8.1/10.

Traffic was an okay film, and that's pretty well my complete opinion on it. I appreciated the message and thought it was interesting, but I had trouble staying completely engaged throughout. This movie isn't too old and although I wasn't too enthralled by it, I do think it aged well. The cinematography may not be the most spectacular but it does has nice aspects that aren't dated yet (the tone, the shots). For me, the different tones from each location were the most interesting part to watch, seeing where they put each colour in and when and also why. I was wondering why they put the blue on only sometimes in Washington; I think I would've figured it out if I had watched closer. I think the colour tones helped move the storyline along really nicely as it created a different mood and feeling each time it switched. Much enjoyed. In the end when Michael Douglas resigned, I think it was because he finally realized he was fighting a losing battle. The drug war was hopeless and he knew it because there are always going to be more people filling in for those who get arrested. Also, he knew he couldn't be fighting his daughter because she would just spiral further; it wouldn't work. A final reason would be that he knew he was doing the right thing by stepping down; he needed to lead the next movement of helping and supporting those who struggle with substance abuse instead of fighting them and pushing them away. All in all, a decent film.

Drugs are everywhere, their presence has been steadily increasing (if it hasn't already maxed out) through the years. But, people who want to lament over today's drug problem lose sight of the fact that drugs have been prevalent since before modern times. People want drugs, not everyone mind you, but a lot of people do. They want illegal drugs, prescription drugs and drugs that aren't thought of as drugs, such as alcohol and cigarettes. Illegal drugs, for the sake of the movie I'll restrict myself to hard stuff like cocaine or heroin, are a big business, perhaps the biggest business in the world. The second biggest business may be the war on drugs, but the difference is one enterprise routinely prospers while the other runs in the red all the time.I'm not going to get into my own personal drug politics, but I am someone who has spent most of his life around drugs and has seen how they affect everyone they touch. Traffic isn't a message movie in the sense that it tries to say this is good and this is bad. It is a message movie on two fronts, first is the message that drugs affect everyone they touch. Second is the message that the war on drugs is being lost and may be more harmful than it is helpful. I happen to agree with both points, so in that regard Traffic is already off to a good start with me. But, it shouldn't come down to personal politics, the two main points touched on in Traffic should be common sense, but they aren't. It's easy to see how drugs affect everyone they touch, users, dealers and those who fight against drugs are all impacted by the mere presence of drugs. The war on drugs is an abysmal failure, that much is obvious by spending a few hours in any local high school. Traffic superbly tells its tale so as not to shove these points down the viewers throats, but rather to give the viewer a glimpse at what is happening and to allow the viewer to come to their own conclusions.Traffic excels in the banality of the drug world and in essence the world in general. The miscommunication shown between different groups of government, the plight of Catherine Zeta-Jones' character, how the smallest of details can affect gaggles of people. At the same time it excels in showing how the most banal of things in our world are escalated tenfold in the world of drugs.I was amazed in Traffic with the relative ease of the story and Soderbergh's direction. Up until Traffic I was not a member of the Soderbergh fan club, but with Traffic I can see little touches that do make him a modern filmmaker to watch out for. His use of colour was not something I was prepared for, but it was exquisite to take in. Each region being filmed in a different hue not only allowed the viewer to know what place they were at in a hectic and fast moving story, but it added texture to each locale. Mexico looked grimier, Ohio looked more serene, and so on. Without these markers I don't know if the story would have flowed quite so easily, nor do I think it would have without Soderbergh's inventive shot selection and pacing choices.The acting in Traffic was great across the board, with nary a performance that didn't grab my attention. Michael Douglas & Benicio del Toro are the obvious point of discussion because their performances do anchor the film. But, I was most impressed with Don Cheadle and even more so with Luis Guzmán. There was genuine humour in Traffic, and most of it was supplied by Cheadle and Guzmán, but they were also poignant and honest characters.It's always a joy to discover an overlooked gem. The masses may not have overlooked Traffic, but I did and I am glad to have finally discovered it. Traffic was a well put together story with interesting characters, a compelling narrative, messages I found intriguing and honest, as well as moving at a fast pace while maintaining a unique look and feel. If you haven't yet seen Traffic, try not to miss out on this gem like I did.

A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business. My biggest problem with this film was that it felt a bit slow at times and that kinda bugged me a lot but other than that the acting was great and the story was interesting but they could have easily done a much better job with both their characters and their actors but overall it's good for an one time watch and i'm going to give it an 6.5/10