Traffic (2000)

That was an excellent one.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

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.

When Traffic came out it won 4 Oscars including Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. I was looking forward to seeing it in film class because of all the recognition it gets. In the end I don't think Traffic is quite as good as people say it is. One flaw that stuck out for me was that at times the pacing dragged a little bit, specifically when it cuts to Catherine Zeta-Jones' character. I didn't latch to her character as much as the other characters like Benicio Del Toro's character. But the story of this movie is the most interesting part about this movie. It shows you different sides of the war on drugs and it is still a relevant topic which is why it has aged very well. One of the best parts of the movie is the arc of Michael Douglas' character. In the beginning of the film he is on the anti-drugs side of the war but towards the end he finds out that his daughter is a crack addict and then he drops out of his position. Reasons he dropped was because he can't fight a war where he has to fight his own family, he would rather support his daughter rather than be at work all day and even if he would win the war someone will eventually start it up again. Steven Soderbergh chose a very interesting choice on how the movie looks. When it is in Mexico it is very over exposed and when it takes place in Washington it has a blue tint to it. It didn't add that much to the story but it was an interesting directing choice.

Traffic was an interesting movie, it had very intense scenes but also boring parts. I think it would have been a good movie back in the 2000s, but now it hasn't been aged so well. The different tones in the scenes help you know the difference in places and situations, so in one part it helped in the other part maybe the color they added was maybe too intense. However, the movie was filmed good, all the angles and the characters were also very good.

Even though Traffic has an all-star cast, the famously raw direction of Steven Soderbergh, and won four Academy Awards, I can't in good conscience recommend that you watch this movie. It's incredibly disturbing, and the main message of the film can be understood without having to sit through two and half hours of upsetting material: Drugs are bad, damaging, and prevalent. There you have it! Save yourself, memorize that message, and just pretend you've seen Traffic when anyone asks you.Traffic is about drug trafficking, and it shows the journey of drugs coming up across the border from Mexico, how they're transferred from drug dealers to drug users, and eventually how they end up in the hands of our most vulnerable: children. In the Mexican scenes, Benicio Del Toro-who won Best Supporting Actor-Jacob Vargas, and Tomas Milian star. When the DEA agents are trying to arrest American drug lords, Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman, Miguel Ferrer, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dennis Quaid, Steven Bauer, and Benjamin Bratt star. And in the scenes that tragically show bored teenagers developing drug addictions, Michael Douglas, James Brolin, Albert Finney, Amy Irving, Erika Christensen, and Topher Grace star.You can see why it's tempting to watch this film, since so many actors and actresses were recruited to take part, but unless you really enjoy watching gritty, upsetting movies that show the filthy underbelly of the country, you will be seriously scarred by watching it. If you are a parent, whether or not your child has developed a substance abuse problem or is as innocent as an angel, you will find this film extremely difficult to watch. Michael Douglas gives a wonderful performance, one that every parent and husband in the audience will identify with. Ironically, while there was quite a bit of hype of the real-life husband and wife pair starring in the same film, Michael and Catherine aren't in any scenes together, since they're separated by different storylines.I can't stop you from watching Traffic, but I can caution you as much as I can. The only reason I watched it was because I'd been cast as the lead role in the play Addict, whose title is probably self-explanatory. At the time, I had so little knowledge of drugs, I didn't even understand the lines my character was scripted to deliver. My brother insisted I watch Traffic with him as homework for the play. Given my druthers, I never would have watched it, and I sincerely wish I'd never been forced to sit through it in the first place.