Traffic film review

certificate_18

TRAFFIC

The term 'war on drugs' is a misnomer. It implies a degree of threat. The reality is that drugs themselves are not in peril. The drugs are flourishing. It's the people who are being destroyed. That's the message in Steven Soderbergh's utterly riveting and affecting Traffic. The film deals with the pervasive and destructive influence of drugs on all aspects of society. It does so ruthlessly and impartially, reserving blame not for individuals but for a system that offers little in the way of resistance.

Traffic weaves three separate tales, each of which explores a different facet of the drug world and those who inhabit it. Michael Douglas is Robert Wakefield, an Ohio Supreme Court judge who has just been appointed head of the office of National Drug Control Policy. His selection is made with the accepted notion that he will fail. His thankless and futile job is simply considered a career steppingstone. His task switches from professional to personal when he discovers his wayward teenage daughter is a heroin addict.

Benicio Del Toro plays Javier Rodriguez, a state policeman stationed in Tijuana, the frontline of the US/Mexico drug trafficking highway. Surrounded on all sides by corruption, he tries valiantly to retain his honesty and integrity despite constant intimidation and temptation.

The final element involves a rich society housewife, Helena Ayala (Zeta-Jones), who only discovers her husband is a major drug dealer after he's arrested at their palatial San Diego house. Also involved in this story are Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman who as DEA agents provide the film with much of its humour as they arrest and guard the one man who is prepared to testify against Ayala's husband.

To make quick identification of the various stories as the film cuts rapidly between them, Soderbergh has cleverly imbued each with a distinctive look. The Tijuana section, which is mostly in native Spanish with sub-titles, is sepia while Douglas' scenes are bathed in a deep blue.

For expedience screenwriter Stephen Gaghan has taken some liberties with plausibility, but as the film is meant to be more symbolic than accurate, it would seem churlish to criticise.

The performances by the ensemble cast are all powerful, but Del Toro stands out as the morally conflicted Rodriguez. His restrained portrait balances perfectly his character's strength and vulnerability.