Common Sense Media Review
Tons of drug use, violence, and depressing stories.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Traffic
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 distinguish them. 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 Catherine 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.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
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. 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 is the effect of the violence in this film? Does it underscore the film's messages or is it gratuitous?
Movie Details
- In theaters : December 27, 2000
- On DVD or streaming : November 4, 2002
- Cast : Benicio Del Toro , Catherine Zeta-Jones , Michael Douglas
- Director : Steven Soderbergh
- Inclusion Information : Latino Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : USA Films
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 147 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : extensive drug use, violence, sex, and language
- Last updated : August 10, 2023
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