Traffic [DVD]

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, “Traffic” is a multifaceted film, which plots at least a dozen stories, all centred around one thing - drugs. America’s war on drugs is shown to be a complex, if futile battle. The new head of the DEA, Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas), is expected to get results in Washington with new policies. Unbeknownst to Wakefield his daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen) is addicted to crack. Meanwhile in a well-to-do suburb, Ayala (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is dismayed by her husband’s arrest, and is informed by her lawyer (Dennis Quaid) that not all of her beloved’s business dealings are legal. Two DEA agents Ray Castro (Luis Guzman) and Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) are trying to get a drug dealer (Miguel Ferrer) to turn informer. Across the border in Mexico, Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) is a cop trying to do the right thing whilst dealing with systemic corruption. For “Traffic” Soderbergh employs a system of different diffusions for the various locales - Washington is bathed in blue, Mexico in a blinding yellow. Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Benicio Del Toro.