 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
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- Review Date: May 19, 2003
- R
- Genre: Drama
- 2000
Common Sense Media says
Flat and a little formulaic; mature teens and up.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie has everything that triggers an R rating: violence (including the death of major characters, murder, torture, and a teenage overdose), explicit sex (including the judge's daughter trading sex for drugs), and strong language. Characters betray each other and there are intense family scenes. However, this is at its heart a morality tale, and all of the R-rated material is in the service of the overall anti-drug message.
What's the story?
In TRAFFIC, a hard-line judge is selected as the president's new general in the war on drugs. Front-line cops in Mexico and the US go after the small-time distributors and try to make cases against the sources of the drugs. A pampered wife, pregnant with her second child, finds out that her husband's legitimate businesses are just a front for his real import -- cocaine. And the judge's teenage daughter becomes a heroin addict.
Is it any good?
Director Steven Soderbergh ably keeps these stories on track, cutting back and forth to let them provide context and contrast for each other, and using different color palettes to help keep them straight. There are also some good lines. But despite a first-rate all-star cast, the stories never connect or illuminate.
Overall, the move feels flat and a little formulaic, almost like one of those old Dragnet" episodes about the dangers of drugs. The script moves the characters around like chess pieces. Packing so many stories in so little time requires a lot of narrative short-cuts like coincidences and stereotypes. The Zeta Jones character switches from innocent and doe-eyed to commanding and vicious faster than you can say "Michael Corleone." Individual scenes have some tension and some fine performances (especially by Benecio del Toro and Don Cheadle as cops), but the overall impact is muted.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about drugs, both their own views on individual drug use and the impact that the drug business has on the community and the country. As teenagers what they think about the way the judge and his wife responded to his daughter's drug use, and about his decision at the end of the movie. Was it the right one? Why did the drug dealer's wife decide to become involved in his business? Did the movie make you feel differently about the role that illegal drugs play in the lives of people around us? When the judge asks the staff for new ideas, the response is silence. What should the next person to hold the anti-drug czar job do?
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- Teens & kids
Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
Very Difficult to Watch...
but certainly worth seeing. The stories, sometimes heartbreaking, other times gruesome, each have a lesson, but it takes some thought to find the good (if any...). This movie made me cry terribly because it portrayed (the very frightening) destruction of a family. In the end, director Steven Soderbergh manages to tie up loose ends and show the dramatic effect the drug trade has on society.
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Parent of 6 year old
September 16, 2012
AGE
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Families can talk about drugs, both their own views on individual drug use and the impact that the drug business has on the community and the country. As teenagers what they think about the way the judge and his wife responded to his daughter's drug use, and about his decision at the end of the movie. Was it the right one? Why did the drug dealer's wife decide to become involved in his business? Did the movie make you feel differently about the role that illegal drugs play in the lives of people around us? When the judge asks the staff for new ideas, the response is silence. What should the next person to hold the anti-drug czar job do?
What other families should know:
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| Studio: | USA Films |
| Director: | Steven Soderbergh |
| Cast: | Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 147 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | December 27, 2000 |
| DVD release date: | November 4, 2002 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | extensive drug use, violence, sex, and language |
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