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R E V I E W S
Traffic
(2000) Starring: Michael
Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Rating: R Studio:
USA Films
Review
Posted:
1.29.01
Rating:
4/4
By
Michael
Brendan McLarney.
"Heavy
Traffic"
Political procurement has a firm grasp on many hot-button issues, among
which is the war on drugs. To "declare" war on illegal substances operates
under the false assumption that drugs lie dormant somewhere waiting to be
overcome. In reality, the issue itself uses some of our most cherished
resources as camouflage; our schools, our children, and our law enforcement.
Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" is a complex, challenging movie that observes
the topic from many perspectives without feeling the need to come up with
its own solutions. The film doesn't preach about the effects drugs have on
our society ... it slowly discovers them.
Ohio State Supreme Court Justice Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) has been
named by the President as the nation's new anti-drug czar. A man who engages
in endeavors with an uncompromising determination, Wakefield diligently
collects information to prepare for the supervision of the country's task
forces. However, his dedication toward the job has made him unaware that his
honor-student daughter has become another victim of drug-addiction.
Meanwhile just south of the border, Mexican police officer Javier Rodriguez
(Benicio Del Toro) and fellow policeman Manolo Sanchez (Jacob Vargas) have
been asked to join the crusade of General Salazar (Tomas Milian), Mexico's
main crime stopper whose personal mission is to wipe out a notorious drug
cartel. Soon the officers find themselves embroiled in a cobweb of
corruption, confronted with temptations of power and money. In San Diego,
undercover DEA agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis
Guzman) have just apprehended a mid-level trafficker named Eduardo Ruiz
(Miguel Ferrer). A deal is struck. The dealer agrees to testify against
wealthy drug baron Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer). The arrest comes as a
tremendous shock to his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) whose need to live a
lavish life has made her oblivious to her husbands actual business
practices.
Stephen ("Rules of
Engagement") Gaghan's screenplay skillfully views the
issue and the characters from a varied array of perspectives. Somehow he is
able to approach the topic in a complex manner without deteriorating into a
pretentious swamp of preachy grandiloquence. At a press conference, Robert
begins his speech on how he plans to attack the problem but stops halfway
through, realizing that the familiar words occupying the paper before him
are essentially ineffective, especially when one of the casualties is a
member of his own family. "How does one declare war on his own family?" he
asks softly, before stepping down and leaving the conference.
I also admired
how Gaghan illustrates the hypocrisy of those who use drugs as well as those
who deal them. At one point, the desperate father pulls his daughter's
drug-addicted, smart aleck boyfriend out of school to help him look for his
missing child. They comb the inner-city streets. "How could you bring my
daughter to a place like this?" he asks condescendingly. The kid fires back
by telling him that rich white kids walk the streets all the time looking
for a score, thereby enabling the selling and dealing of drugs. "Do you
honestly think if your neighborhood was chock full of black kids willing to
pay enormous sums of money for drugs, you'd still make your livings as
doctors and lawyers?" The kid demonstrates both his perceptiveness and his
numbing hypocrisy; he's aware of the circumstances surrounding the problem,
yet that doesn't keep him from gleefully contributing to it.
The ensemble cast brilliantly embodies characters faced with a tirade of
drug-related complications, and who must take their own dubious steps to
overcome their respective dilemmas. Benicio Del Toro, who made his mark as
Finster, the hood with an odd speech pattern in "The Usual Suspects", plays
many of his scenes shielded behind a pair of sunglass yet is able to convey
his cognizance of the deception around him. He makes the decision to keep
quiet, hoping the claws of corruption will not make their mark. When they
do, he reluctantly takes steps to make things right while feelings of guilt
still weigh heavily on his mind. The arc of the character's plight is
conveyed by Del Toro with very little dialogue. Also effective is Don
Cheadle as a worn but still fiery DEA agent. He plays Gordon as a soldier
against drugs who never idealizes his own undertaking. "You realize the
futility of what you're doing and you do it anyway," he is told by the
mid-level dealer. The agent's ire isn't raised a bit. Sure, he's aware. That
line has probably been thrown into his face throughout his career. Gordon is
doing a job, not making a statement. Cheadle captures the notion
perfectly.
Most of the movie utilizes a hand-held camera style, giving it a sense of
urgency. I also liked how different locations possess a distinctive tint.
The scenes in Mexico have a yellowish, dry, smoldering look to them, hinting
at the corruption seething beneath the surface. Conversely, the scenes in
the high-class home of Supreme Court Justice Robert Wakefield have a
blue-ish tint, giving it a cold, distant feel. The home is occupied by a family going
through the motions, not possessing a genuine closeness.
The daunting complexities of the various situations are accentuated by Cliff
Martinez' masterful score. Not overrun by a plethora of crescendos, the
music has a subtle, methodical, permeating feel to it. Maybe similar to the
way chemical substances infiltrate the body and mind?
Steven Soderbergh's second movie to be released this past year, "Traffic" is
put together in a self-contained way that doesn't reach out to the audience.
Refusing to preach and unwilling to garner false sympathy for its
characters, the film challenges the viewer by presenting a genuine concern
while conveying an unsettling truth; the inability to find the exact
answers.
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