Traffic (I've Finally Seen It!)

In 1971, President Richard Nixon coined the phrase “The War on Drugs”. It’s a nice, powerful collection of words, sending the message that if you’re involved in the drug trade, the government will be coming after you. The 2001 Steven Soderbergh film Traffic takes a look at the ongoing “war”, and comes to the conclusion that despite all of the drug busts you may see on the news, the product is still getting into the States without much resistance. While the film is nearly a decade old, the problems it addresses are still quite prevalent.

Traffic is able to create a magnificent whole from short, seemingly unremarkable scenes telling three separate stories. The characters are all personally affected by American drug trade, whether they are on the front lines or only tangentially involved. Ohio judge Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) has just been appointed the United States drug czar, leading the efforts to win the decade-spanning “war”. However, his daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen) has become increasingly dependent on cocaine.

Meanwhile, out in San Diego, big-time dealer Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer) has been arrested by two DEA agents (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzmán). He decides to testify against distributor Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer), which would send a blow to the large Obrégon cartel. Many people decide they do not want Ayala found guilty, including his wife Helena (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Suddenly Ruiz has a target on his back.

But where do all the drugs come from? If an important politician’s daughter is routinely getting high, where is she getting it? It all traces back to our neighbor to the south, and Traffic depicts Mexico as a corrupt facilitator. Lowly cop Javier Rodriguez (Benicio del Toro) is hired to help bring down the Obrégon cartel by Gen. Salazar (Tomás Milián), and it supposedly starts with the capture of flamboyant assassin Francisco Flores (chameleon character actor Clifton Collins, Jr.). Rodriguez finds himself deeper and deeper until he realizes that perhaps the people above him are motivated by other things than the common good.

As I mentioned before, Traffic is the rare film that is so much greater than the sum of its parts. The War on Drugs is not a war against a product or a people but a lifestyle. Where is the problem? Does it lay in Mexico with the producers or in America with the consumers? Early in the film Guzmán’s DEA agent is keeping watch on the Ayala household, and he expresses his excitement: “I have actually dreamed about this, about busting the top people, the rich people, white people!” Needless to say, this is a broad statement, but how false is it? When the average American is presented with the issue of drug traffic, they see it as a problem created by Mexicans. The truth is that they don’t hold all of the power, but like in most American businesses, the white people are in charge.

Seth (Topher Grace) is Caroline Wakefield’s girlfriend. When her father fears the worst, he grabs Seth and takes him on his search downtown which will alter his view of the War on Drugs forever. When Robert expresses disgust with the decisions of Seth and Caroline, Seth goes off on a rant the likes of which cannot be explained. It is both hilarious and, in its own way, profound. I will not transcribe it, but it attacks with intricate brilliance the judgmental way we Americans choose to approach race and the drug trade.

At times Traffic has the feel of a documentary, as if the viewer is looking in where they should not be looking. The universe is fully-realized down to the minutest detail, educating the viewer on the process, which is always more fascinating. This is not an action movie or a thriller, but a drama that is put together carefully and impeccably. The Oscar-winning screenplay by Stephen Gaghan is brilliant in its ability to tell a large, ambitious story using only quick scenes and (mostly) unremarkable dialogue. Traffic doesn’t sermonize, but instead tells its story with brutal honesty. The direction by Steven Soderbergh is pretty great as well, and he won an Oscar for his work (he was nominated twice for Best Director in 2001, for this and Erin Brockovich). Also winning an Oscar was Benicio del Toro as Javier Rodriguez, just one flawless performance among many.

The picture painted by Traffic may seem bleak, but it gives the viewer a world where the small victories can be the sweetest. By film’s end Robert Wakefield no longer cares about pulling off a drug bust in some Texas garage, but instead cares about what can be done on the home front. This is not a war that can be won with guns or money. Instead, we need to fight the mentality that the dealing or consumption of drugs is an appropriate way to go about life. This is a civil war, and perhaps it is Robert Wakefield who puts it best: “If there is a war on drugs, then many of our family members are the enemy. And I don't know how you wage war on your own family.”

Rating:  (out of 4)