Traffic is a nuanced film about the US war on drugs. It covers a wide divergence of view points, and covers nearly every aspect the process that brings drugs from the Mexican desert to a neighborhood near you.
Director Stephen Soderberg has pulled off that rarity, a film that combines commercial scale with art house technique and intellectual heft. Soderberg manages lots of wonderful touches (colored film stock, staggered editing, impressionistic sound, etc.) without intruding on the narrative. Fine performances abound, from Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Miguel Ferrer, to even Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman. What makes Traffic so terrific is its portrayal of the full depths of the horrendous drug problem without preaching easy answers or turning characters into straw men.
Grade: A+
Barring a miracle (I haven't seen Before Night Falls yet), Traffic is my number 1 film of the year.
