We tend to trust a filmmaker who has a strong point of view. Many times that trust is misplaced. Oliver Stone created a stir with his `JFK' premise that everyone killed John F. Kennedy EXCEPT Lee Harvey Oswald--until the American public stepped back and realized how much the writer/director had misrepresented history. `Elizabeth' was critically acclaimed until an article in `The Washington Post' showed how historically inaccurate it was. And `Hurricane' was battered-and perhaps star Denzel Washington lost the Academy Award for best actor--when critics began to point out its inaccuracies.
The fact is that few people have the time or knowledge to challenge the accuracy of what's being portrayed on the screen. Such is the case with Steven Soderbergh's `Traffic.' Soderbergh marshals some statistics about how the money spend in transporting drugs far outstrips the amount being spent on stopping the flow of narcotics into this country, and shows the political posturing of the American government and the corruption of the Mexican government. He also does a bit of preaching: A scene in which Michael Douglas and Amy Irving blame each other for their daughter's drug use makes the familiar argument that there are all sorts of narcotics out there. His conclusion is that the situation is continuing to get worse, and the war is unwinnable. Soderbergh may be right about all this-we just have to trust him. But what if things are getting better?
Aside from that caution, this is a good if not film. Soderbergh does several fine things. First of all, his structure involves three separate stories that interlink at points, but not always. Secondly, he does an interesting thing with lighting. He films scenes in Mexico in a washed out tone, creating a feeling of both desolation and dread. Finally, he assembles an outstanding cast. Michael Douglas and real-life wife Catherine Zeta-Jones-though they never appear on screen together-head the list of Academy Award possibles. So does Benicio Del Toro as a decent Mexican cop. His role is almost entirely in "Mexican" Spanish, a dialect he had to learn for the movie. Don Cheadle turns in another strong performance, as does Miguel Ferrer, who might finally gain some recognition from this film as a great character actor.
Soderbergh does trip up at one point. An attempt(s) to take out Ferrer portrays the DEA as being unable to perform the most basic type of security.
The fact is that few people have the time or knowledge to challenge the accuracy of what's being portrayed on the screen. Such is the case with Steven Soderbergh's `Traffic.' Soderbergh marshals some statistics about how the money spend in transporting drugs far outstrips the amount being spent on stopping the flow of narcotics into this country, and shows the political posturing of the American government and the corruption of the Mexican government. He also does a bit of preaching: A scene in which Michael Douglas and Amy Irving blame each other for their daughter's drug use makes the familiar argument that there are all sorts of narcotics out there. His conclusion is that the situation is continuing to get worse, and the war is unwinnable. Soderbergh may be right about all this-we just have to trust him. But what if things are getting better?
Aside from that caution, this is a good if not film. Soderbergh does several fine things. First of all, his structure involves three separate stories that interlink at points, but not always. Secondly, he does an interesting thing with lighting. He films scenes in Mexico in a washed out tone, creating a feeling of both desolation and dread. Finally, he assembles an outstanding cast. Michael Douglas and real-life wife Catherine Zeta-Jones-though they never appear on screen together-head the list of Academy Award possibles. So does Benicio Del Toro as a decent Mexican cop. His role is almost entirely in "Mexican" Spanish, a dialect he had to learn for the movie. Don Cheadle turns in another strong performance, as does Miguel Ferrer, who might finally gain some recognition from this film as a great character actor.
Soderbergh does trip up at one point. An attempt(s) to take out Ferrer portrays the DEA as being unable to perform the most basic type of security.