Traffic (2000)

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writers (WGA):

Simon Moore (miniseries Traffik)
Stephen Gaghan (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 January 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

No One Gets Away Clean

Plot:

A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is an addict.

Plot Keywords:

Crime Drama | Beautiful Daughter | Criminal | Crime Epic | Teenage Daughter

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 59 wins & 57 nominations

Cast

Benicio Del Toro	...	Javier Rodriguez
Jacob Vargas	...	Manolo Sanchez
Andrew Chavez	...	Desert Truck Driver
Michael Saucedo	...	Desert Truck Driver
Tomas Milian	...	General Arturo Salazar
Jose Yenque	...	Salazar Soldier / Torturer
Emilio Rivera	...	Salazar Soldier #2
Michael O'Neill	...	Lawyer Rodman
Michael Douglas	...	Robert Wakefield
Russell G. Jones	...	Mark
Lorene Hetherington	...	State Capitol Reporter #1
Eric Collins	...	State Capitol Reporter #2
Beau Holden	...	CalTrans DEA Agent
Peter Stader	...	CalTrans DEA Agent
James Lew	...	CalTrans DEA Agent

Also Known As:

Traffic - Die Macht des Kartells (Germany)
Traffik (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive drug content, strong language, violence and some sexuality.

Runtime:

147 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

A-1 Self Storage, 1190-B W. Morena Boulevard, San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Bedford Falls Productions

Trivia:

Benicio Del Toro is one of only five actors to have won an Academy Award for a part spoken mainly in a foreign language (most of Del Toro's dialog is in Spanish). Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, Marion Cotillard and Roberto Benigni are the other four.

Goofs:

Plot holes: In Wakefield's meeting with the Chief of Staff, he's told his first media briefing will be in a month. One of movie's final scenes is that media briefing. Meaning the time frame from arrest to trial for Carlos Ayala is less than a month. That's highly unlikely, in fact almost impossible, for a major criminal trial.

Quotes:

Montel Gordon: I lost my virginity when I was 16 on a beach just like that.
Ray Castro: Cool, man. He treat you good?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Megan Mullally/Clay Aiken (#29.11)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Give The Po' Man A Break

All you could ask for.

No compromises here. Traffic takes a long, hard look at the narcotics industry in North America and manages to entertain at the same time. The triple plot allows you to see the whole industry with multiple perspectives. The movie is visually stunning, loved the different filters for the three locations.

That the war on drugs cannot be won, and is hypocritical to boot, is a message that needs as much air-time as it can get.