SOME ALWAYS GET STUCK IN TRAFFIC
 Sep 7th, 2002
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About me:
Taking a short break from Ciao....will be back ASAP LOL :)
Member since:02.10.2000
Reviews:101
Members who trust:26
Review rated by 37 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
I recently went into our local HMV music store having noticed a big sale sign offering 3 videos for £15 and dvds for £20 per 2 (damn, I must buy me a dvd player soon). Having spent half an hour browsing and making half the shop staff follow me in a uniform line, thinking me a shifty character, I ended up buying a bucket-load of videos to supplement and confirm my advanced status of ‘couchus potatoeous’.
One of the films I got was Traffic (expect a few movie reviews in the coming weeks!), having heard good things about it from the movie media, and knowing that Benecio Del Toro won an Oscar for his supporting role.
The story, in simple terms, revolves around drug trafficking between the USA and Mexico. Michael Douglas plays a hotshot judge who is given a position similar to that of the drug czar that that Halliwell guy has in our country. Douglas goes into his position as any clueless politician would, thinking that a bit of effort and money would solve all sundry when it comes to the ever increasing
drug problem in American society. What an ironic twist of fate it is when he later finds out that his own daughter is a drug addict. Del Toro, in the meantime, plays a Mexican police officer who is genuine in his purpose and method of addressing Mexico’s own drug problems, while Catherine Zeta Jones portrays herself as the wife of a powerful narcotics lord in the US. Various other characters interplay with the plot and with the characters aforementioned, giving thickness and material to the overall plot.
‘Brilliant’, ‘Electrifying’, ‘Terrific’, ‘Compelling’. Those were some of the words used by various reviewers to describe Traffic. Having read Phil’s (aka Lostwitness on Ciao), before writing my review, I have to agree with him that this film is not for everybody, nor did it fulfil its possible potential as an influential movie to the max. The story, though plausible in everyday life, certainly from an American point of view, if somewhat too grand for a British setting, is still a bleak story overall.
Strong in language, somewhat graphic in drug-taking portrayal, and the odd sex scene, it easily and correctly relates to the viewer that seedy side of society, and how an intelligent, rich person (Douglas’ daughter) can get easily sucked into the murky world of drugs and all the problems it brings. The variation in colour filtering (strong yellow when shot in Mexico, blue in others, and multicolour in more scenes) does not add anything to the film in terms of authenticity or originality. If anything, I initially thought there was something wrong with the tape, and my brain gratefully clicked into action and worked it out a couple of days later (I almost took the tape back to HMV to complain! What a prat I would have felt like at the counter).
What makes the film is simply the story. It is a film to make you think, to make you appreciate leading a normal life, to feel sympathy and horror at the same time for the characters, yet still realise that life can be s**t at times even with power and money at hand. Though advertised as a thriller, there is not much of what you and I would define as action nowadays, apart from the odd gunfight. It simply excels in the dark, putrefying angle of life it addresses.
The cast, which also includes Don Cheadle (Swordfish, Oceans eleven) and Dennis Quaid (too many films to mention) is more or less proven and are given enough serious and heavy material to tackle, all with ease, though Del Toro was obviously above par with his well-deserved Oscar as a cool, calm and collected, moody, and thoughtful Mexican officer, who is genuinely concerned for the welfare of the people he’s trying to protect.
The film, in my opinion, could have easily been half an hour or so longer, and I still would have been glued to the screen all the same. It is a gripping modern-day tale of love, loyalty, betrayal, and political corruption, all rolled in two and a half hours of at times intense and taxing thoughtfulness. Where it sometimes fails is thinness of some scenes where you really think that people do not change that quickly, or act that stupidly, but hey, nobody proclaimed it a masterpiece. It is simply a damn good film for those who like to engage their brain and emotion that little bit more.
Despite many reviewers on Ciao giving four stars or less, I feel it deserves somewhere in between four and five, thus I’ll award it five.
Good piece of film making that could have been even better.
Raf
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21.09.2002 18:44
Got this in a similair kind of offer. didn't think it would be my kind of film but really enjoyed it.
12.09.2002 13:02
I enjoyed this film! Mind you though - whenever i go out shopping with my partner we always get followed round shops. We must look dodgy too!! I refuse to buy anything from those shops and tell them so and walk out!! Mel x
09.09.2002 10:26
Not my type of flick so will wait for it to turn up on telly.