Rating of
4/4
Hard Hitting
chiggles - wrote on 05/31/08
A modern day look at America's war on drugs told through four separate stories that are connected in one way or another. A conservative politician who's just been appointed as the US drug czar learns that his daughter is a drug addict. A trophy wife struggles to save her husband's drug business, while two DEA agents protect a witness with inside knowledge of the spouse's business. In Mexico, a corrupt, yet dedicated cop struggles with his conscience when he learns that his new boss may not be the anti-drug official he made himself out to be.
Traffic takes the drug problem around the Mexico/US border and puts it into extreme microscopic view. As the film shows the hard hitting scenes where a young daughter becomes involved in the use of drugs, we get extremely detailed drama which all unflolds through the movie. As it all revolves around drugs and such, the tales are told in such an amazing fashion that I was blown away by the story and plot. The most extrodinary tale is the one in which a daughter of a nations Drug Czar in which gets invloved in drugs, and the father must battle what he fights for hand in hand.
Some of the elements of the movie reminded me of the film Crash, directed by Paul Haggis. I really felt intrigued that a director would take the idea for this movie, which is drugs, and fight it on the front lines. The script, written by Stephen Gaghan lacks nothing. It has a little bit of humor and a seriousness which really pulls out all the emotion that the film has to cover through the movies lengthy time.
There have been many movies which checked out the drug scene in extreme detail, but none have been brave enough to wrap a real and serious story around it like Traffic has done. The character designs and backstories are done very well. I felt like these people were people I could relate to personally because the script captured them in extreme detail.
Traffic is hard hitting and real. A must see!.
