Traffic

Steven Soderbergh has to be one of the most prolific directors of the last thirty years. His first movie sex, lies and videotape revived independent film, Out of Sight is considered the sexiest movie ever made, and he managed to maintain a collaboration with George Clooney. Not bad, man. Not bad.

Traffic follows the events of several individuals: Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro), a Mexican police officer who unwittingly becomes a drug lord's employee; Eduaro Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer), a major dealer targeted by DEA agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzman); Helena Ayala (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the wife of distributor Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer); and Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas), a judge whose views on drugs are challenged upon learning his daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen) is an addict.

Ah, the gritty and painful truth of reality. Soderbergh shows just that from his work and clearly shows how he got the Oscar for this. Del Toro won the Oscar, but I believe Douglas gave the best performance. His character is the one most affected by drugs since they have manifested his family. Overall, Traffic is well-acted, excellently shot and painfully real.

My Rating: ****1/2