Traffic (2000)

	Directed by: Steven Soderbergh	COUNTRY USA GENRE Crime/Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Traffic RUNNING TIME 147 minutes
	Produced by: Edward Zwick Marshall Herskovitz Laura Bickford
	Written by (based on the miniseries "Traffik" by Simon Moore): Stephen Gaghan

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Javier Rodriguez Rodríguez	Benicio del Toro
Manolo Sanchez	Jacob Vargas	½
Ana Sanchez	Marisol Padilla Sánchez	-
General Arturo Salazar	Tomas Milian	-
Robert Wakefield	Michael Douglas
Barbara Wakefield	Amy Irving
Caroline Wakefield	Erika Christensen	½
Seth Abrahams	Topher Grace
Jeff Sheridan	D. W. Moffett	-
General Ralph Landry	James Brolin	-
White House Chief of Staff	Albert Finney	-
Carlos Ayala	Steven Bauer
Helena Ayala	Catherine Zeta-Jones
Arnie Metzger	Dennis Quaid	½
Francisco "Frankie Flowers" Flores	Clifton Collins Jr.	½
Montel Gordon	Don Cheadle
Ray Castro	Luis Guzmán	½
Eduardo Ruiz	Miguel Ferrer
Michael Adler	Peter Riegert	-
Juan Obregón	Benjamin Bratt	-
Social Worker	Viola Davis	-
Assistant DA Dan Colier	John Slattery	-
Prosecutor	James Pickens Jr.	-
Rosario	Salma Hayek	-

Review

Stephen Gaghan won a whole host of awards for his expertly interwoven script about drug use and trafficking, adapted from Simon Moore's acclaimed BBC miniseries which aired in 1989. And with the addition of Steven Soderbergh's grainy cinematography and strong emphasis on characters over compositions, Traffic became a vanguard for the current age of Prestige TV. If at first you may be detracted by the director's unattractive colour palette and bumpy handheld camera, the power of the material soon takes centre-stage and you may find yourself agreeing with Soderbergh that his stylistics do in fact give the story an added urgency and intimacy. Nevertheless, it is the clever and all-encompassing story which makes Traffic an engrossing watch. Centering on a dozen principal characters whose stories are more or less woven together, the movie covers most every aspect of the drug world. And the fine cast of characters revel in these fruitful circumstances, some of whom give close to career-best performances, including Benicio Del Toro as a Mexican police officer, Michael Douglas in a fine role with an arguably personal aspect, young Erika Christensen as his rebellious, addicted daughter, and last but not least Clifton Collins Jr. as a sicario in a pickle. The movie is crowned by trendsetting and highly evocative use of ambient music by Cliff Martinez.