Traffic
Poster
Directed by	Steven Soderbergh
Produced by	Edward Zwick Marshall Herskovitz Laura Bickford
Written by	Stephen Gaghan
Starring	Michael Douglas Benicio Del Toro Don Cheadle Catherine Zeta-Jones Dennis Quaid
Music by	Cliff Martinez
Distributed by	USA Films
Release date(s)	December 27, 2000 (limited) 5 January 2001 (wide) 5 January 2001 26 January 2001 8 March 2001 9 March 2001
Running time	147 min.
Country	USA
Language	English Spanish
Budget	$48,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Traffic is an award-winning 2000 crime/drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh. It explores the intricacies of the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker, whose lives affect each other even though they do not meet. The film is an adaptation of the British Channel 4 television series Traffik. In 2004, USA Network ran a miniseries — also called Traffic — based on the movie. Image File history File links Traffic_poster. ... Steven Andrew Soderbergh (born January 14, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and Oscar-winning director. ... Edward Zwick (born October 8, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American film director and film producer. ... Marshall Herskovitz (-) is an American film director. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other people bearing this name, see Michael Douglas (disambiguation). ... Benicio Monserrat Rafael Del Toro Sanchez (born February 19, 1967, in San Germán, Puerto Rico) is an Academy Award winning Puerto Rican actor. ... Don Cheadle (November 29, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor. ... Catherine Zeta-Jones (born 25 September 1969) is an Academy Award-winning Welsh actress who began her career on stage at an early age. ... Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. ... Cliff Martinez (born February 5, 1954) is an American film score composer and former drummer for Captain Beefheart and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (1982-1985). ... Focus Features (formerly known as USA Films and, in the beginning, Gramercy Pictures) is the speciality films division of Universal Pictures, a division of NBC Universal, the U.S.-based film, television and recreation entity of General Electric. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (362nd in leap years). ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Canada. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... March 8 is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Africa. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (69th in leap years). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This is a list of film-related events in 2000. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Steven Andrew Soderbergh (born January 14, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and Oscar-winning director. ... Retail selling Street selling is the bottom of the chain and can be accomplished through purchasing from prostitutes, through cloaked retail stores or refuse houses for users in the act located in red-light districts which often also deal in paraphernalia, dealers marketing merriment at night clubs and other events... It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ... Traffik is a 1989 television miniseries which tells the story of illegal drug trade. ... USA Network is a popular American cable TV network with about 89 million household subscribers as of 2005. ... A miniseries (sometimes mini-series), in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ... Traffic: The Miniseries was a three-part feature on the United States cable channel USA in 2004 featuring an ensemble cast portraying the complex world of drugs, their distribution, the associated violence, and the wide variety of people whose lives are touched by it all. ...

Plot

Structure

Film scholar Abigail Quart has described Traffic as the first in a category of films that she calls 'hyperlink movies', in which multiple stories take place, each affecting the other in ways that characters are unaware of, all the while using radically different aesthetic and cinematics techniques to define the mise en scène of each storyline. Hyperlink cinema is a term coined by Alissa Quart, who used the term in her review of the film Happy Endings for Film Comment. ... Mise en scène [mizɑ̃sÉ›n] has been called film criticisms grand undefined term, but that is not because of a lack of definitions. ...

Synopsis

The film begins in Mexico, where police officer Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) and his partner, Manolo, stop a drug transport and arrest the couriers. Their arrest is interrupted by General Salazar, a high-ranking Mexican official. The general, who announces he wants to "wipe out the Tijuana cartel," decides to hire Javier, a rare honest cop in Mexico. Javier is instructed to locate and apprehend Frankie Flowers (Clifton Collins Jr.) - a notorious hit man for the Tijuana Óbregon Drug Cartel. Benicio Monserrat Rafael Del Toro Sanchez (born February 19, 1967, in San Germán, Puerto Rico) is an Academy Award winning Puerto Rican actor. ... Clifton Collins Jr. ... A hitman (alternately, hit man) is a hired assassin, often by organized crime. ... Tijuana (Spanish [tixwana], English usually [ËŒtiːəˈwÉ‘nÉ™]), is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California and the seat of the municipality of Tijuana. ...

Meanwhile, Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas), an conservative Ohio Judge, is appointed to be head of the President's Office of National Drug Control, taking the title of Drug Czar. Wakefield is warned by his predecessor and several influential politicians that the war on drugs is unwinnable and that he should only consider his position as the Drug Czar as a resume building experience. Unbeknownst to Robert, his honor student daughter who lives in the Cincinnati suburbs, Caroline (Erika Christensen), is using cocaine and falls victim to drug addiction when she is introduced to freebasing heroin by her boyfriend, Seth (Topher Grace). She and Seth are arrested when another student at her high school overdoses on heroin and they try to dump him anonymously at a nearby hospital. For other people bearing this name, see Michael Douglas (disambiguation). ... Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ... Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Keith Hellawell, former Drug Czar in the United Kingdom. ... Cincinnati, Ohio viewed from the SW, across the Ohio River from Kentucky. ... Erika Christensen in The Perfect Score. ... Drug addiction, or dependency is the compulsive use of drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use. ... Heroin ((INN) Diacetylmorphine, (BAN) diamorphine) is an opioid synthesized directly from the extracts of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. ... Christopher John Grace (born July 12, 1978), better known as Topher Grace, is an American actor. ... Heroin ((INN) Diacetylmorphine, (BAN) diamorphine) is an opioid synthesized directly from the extracts of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. ...

In the third main story, which is set in San Diego, an undercover DEA investigation - led by Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzman), two enthusiastic minority agents who have been waiting for an opportunity to bust a rich white drug dealer arrest the high-stakes dealer posing as a fisherman Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer). In the process, Ruiz is hospitalized and Gordon and Castro begin an interrogation telling him his only alternative out is to convince the DEA that he has a boss. Ruiz decides to risk the dangerous road to immunity after hearing that possession of the large quantity is a capital crime in certain states and gives up his boss: drug lord Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer), the biggest distributor for the Óbregon brothers in the U.S. Ayala is prosecuted by the high profile Ben Williams (James Pickens Jr.), a tough prosecuter hand selected by Robert Wakefield who is hoping to send a message to the Mexican drug organizations through a conviction against Ayala. The DEAs enforcement activities may take agents anywhere from distant countries to suburban U.S. homes. ... Don Cheadle (November 29, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor. ... Luis Guzmán is a Puerto Rican actor. ... Miguel Ferrer (born February 7, 1955) is an actor of Puerto Rican-Irish-American descent who is often cast in movies as a villain. ... A drug lord is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. ... Steven Bauer (born Esteban Echevarria on December 2, 1956 in Havana,Cuba is a Golden Globe nominated Cuban-American actor. ... James Pickens, Jr. ...

Javier is successful in finding Flowers, by secretly learning that he is a homosexual and frequents gay bars to pick up promiscuous men. Flowers is tortured horrifically, much to the uneasiness of straight-shooting Javier, and eventually gives Salazar the names of several important members of the Óbregon Drug Cartel, who are arrested in a large effort by police and army soldiers. Javier and Salazar's efforts start to cripple the Óbregon brothers cocaine outfit, but Javier soon discovers that Salazar is, in fact, a pawn for the Juaréz Cartel, the rival of the Óbregon brothers. The entire Mexican anti-drug campaign is a fraud, as Salazar is wiping out one cartel, not out of duty, but rather because he has aligned himself with another cartel for profit. Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ...

Robert, realizing that his daughter is a drug addict, finds himself in a tough spot, caught between his demanding new position and his worrisome family life. He delves into his job taking more of an interest in rehabilitation of drug users due to his current family situation. When he heads to Mexico to see the "front lines up close", he is encouraged by the successful efforts of Salazar hurting the Óbregon brothers (not knowing of the general's ruse and secret motivation). In the process Wakefield sees that as a nation, Mexico is not as devoted to the war on drugs specifically as his position is non-existent in their government and their policies towards drug treatment is "addicts treat themselves" by dying off. On the plane ride out Robert is frustrated at his team's lack of new ideas on how to fight drug trafficking or rehabilitate current drug users and sees that the drug organizations in Latin America have a budget that far exceeds that of the US anti-drug departments. When he returns to Ohio, Robert learns that his efforts to see Caroline rehabilitated have failed, and she escaped into the city where no one knows her location. Secretly, she's forced to prostitute herself and rob her parents to procure money for drugs. Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Many drugs are provided in tablet form. ...

While the trial against Carlos Ayala begins, Carlos' wife, Helena (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who has only recently learned of his true profession, wants their family life to go on as always. She and her son are soon threatened by thugs of the Óbregon brothers. With her husband facing life imprisonment and death threats against her only child, she decides to make a desperate move and hire Flowers to assassinate Eduardo Ruiz. She knows that killing Ruiz will effectively end the trial. Catherine Zeta-Jones (born 25 September 1969) is an Academy Award-winning Welsh actress who began her career on stage at an early age. ... assassin, see Assassin (disambiguation) Jack Ruby assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald in a very public manner. ...

Javier's partner, Manolo, who has also learned of General Salazar's lies, sells the information to the Óbregon drug cartel, but is killed for his betrayal. Javier, who can no longer stomach working for Salazar, decides to cut a deal with the only non-corrupt organization he has access to - the American Government and FBI. In exchange for his testimony, Javier requests electricity in his neighborhood, so that kids can play baseball at night rather than be tempted by street gangs and crime. General Salazar's secrets are revealed to the public; he is arrested and tortured to death shortly after.

Robert begins a search for his daughter, dragging along Seth, who fears they will be murdered for meddling in such dangerous business. After being threatened and nearly killed by a drug dealer, Robert regains his resolve and breaks into a seedy hotel room in Cincinnati, finding a semi-conscious Caroline about to prostitute herself to a much older man. Robert comforts her and breaks down in tears. He returns to Washington, D.C., to give his prepared speech on a "10-point plan" to combat the war on drugs. In the middle of the speech, he falters, then tells the press that on a war on drugs is a war against many of our own family members, which he cannot endorse. He quits his job and heads home, satisfied with his choice to quit.

Flowers's assassination attempt on Ruiz fails, when he himself is assassinated for his betrayal, by a sniper working for the Óbregon cartel. Helena, knowing that Ruiz is soon to testify, then makes a deal with Juan Óbregon (Benjamin Bratt), lord of the drug cartel, who forgives the debt of the Ayala family and murders Ruiz. Carlos Ayala is released, much to the discomfort of Montel Gordon, who lost his friend and partner, Ray Castro (Luis Guzman), when Frankie tried to assassinate Ruiz with a car bomb. Soon after, Montel bursts into the Ayala residence and illegally plants a microphone under one of the tables, before being kicked out. Ayala also suspects that his good friend Arnie Metzger was planning to move into his house taking his wife and son away from him following a conviction for drug trafficing. Arkansas Army National Guard soldiers practice sniper marksmanship at their firing range near Baghdad, Iraq on February 15, 2005. ... Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. ... A cartel is a group of legally independent producers whose goal it is to fix prices, limit supplies and limit competition. ... Luis Guzmán is a Puerto Rican actor. ... A microphone, sometimes referred to as a mike or mic (both IPA pronunciation: ), is an acoustic to electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. ...

Robert and his wife begin to go to Narcotics Anonymous meetings with their daughter, to support her and everyone else there.

Javier takes the media to Mexico and explains what he can about the widespread corruption in the police force and army. The film concludes with him watching some Mexican children playing baseball at night, at their new stadium. A view of the playing field at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. ... Telstra Stadium in Sydney, Australia is capable of being converted from a rectangular rugby football field to an oval for cricket and Australian rules football games This article is about the building type. ...

Production

Adaptation of the screenplay

The film shortens the storyline of original TV series and the Pakistani plotline is replaced with one set in Mexico. Writer Stephen Gaghan originally planned to set the Wakefield family storyline in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. During his research, however, he determined that Cincinnati's bad neighborhoods looked worse than Louisville's and would serve the finished film better, so he moved the Wakefields' stories there. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... “Louisville” redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

When a critic commented that it seemed unrealistic that the daughter's high school record was almost perfect when she was taking drugs, Gaghan pointed out that the high school record in the movie was his and that he had been abusing drugs at the time. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Casting

The role of Judge Wakefield was originally slated to star Harrison Ford, but he pulled out of the film before production, and was replaced by Michael Douglas. Ford also turned down an opportunity to star in the 2005 film Syriana, also written by Stephan Gaghan. Ford has said that these are the two film roles that he most regrets turning down.^{[citation needed]} Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. ... Syriana is a 2005 Academy Award-winning geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan. ...

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones were engaged during the filming of this movie, but do not appear in any scenes together in the film. For other people bearing this name, see Michael Douglas (disambiguation). ... Catherine Zeta-Jones (born 25 September 1969) is an Academy Award-winning Welsh actress who began her career on stage at an early age. ...

Awards

At the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and the Directors Guild of America awards for 2000, Soderbergh was nominated for Best Director for two films: Traffic and Erin Brockovich. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... DGA Headquarters in Hollywood, California Directors Guild of America (DGA) is the labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry. ... Erin Brockovich is a 2000 movie which dramatizes the story of Erin Brockovichs first fight against the West Coast energy giant PG&E. The film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and featured superstar Julia Roberts in the lead role for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. ...

Both Topher Grace and Erika Christensan won the Young Hollywood Best Male and Female Awards for their portrayal of a young cocaine-abusing, prep-school couple. The Vancouver Film Critics Circle granted awards to "Traffic" for Best Actor (Benicio Del Toro), Best Screenplay (Stephen Galahan) and Best Film. The Screen Actors Guild gave "Traffic" the award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture.

Academy Awards

The film won Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Picture, but did not win. Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... The Academy Award for Directing is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the awards are voted on by other people within the industry. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Award for Film Editing was first given for films issued in 1934. ... The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. ... // The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards, awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which are voted on by others within the industry. ...

Benicio Del Toro is one of only four actors to have won an Academy Award for a part spoken mainly in a foreign language (most of Del Toro's dialogue is in Spanish). Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, and Roberto Benigni are the other three. Sophia Loren (born September 20, 1934) is a motion picture and stage, Academy Award-winning actress, widely considered to be the most popular Italian performer. ... Robert Mario De Niro Jr. ... Roberto Remigio Benigni (born October 27, 1952) is an Academy Award-winning Italian film and television actor, writer and director. ...

Others

At the Golden Globe Awards, Traffic won Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, and Best Screenplay. The Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year. ... For the main article see Golden Globe Awards. ...

At the Edgar Awards, Stephen Gaghan won the award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay, as well as a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. ... Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay: 1990: Heathers - Daniel Waters 1991: The Grifters - Donald E. Westlake 1992: The Silence of the Lambs - Ted Tally 1993: The Player - Michael Tolkin 1994: Falling Down - Ebbe Roe Smith 1995: Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino 1996: The Usual Suspects - Christopher McQuarrie 1997...

Principal supporting cast

• Dennis Quaid - Arnie Metzger, Ayala lawyer.
• Steven Bauer - Carl Ayala, Obrégon brothers distributor.
• Clifton Collins Jr.- Francisco Flores, Obrégon Cartel Assassin.
• Erika Christensen - Caroline Wakefield.
• Topher Grace - Seth Abrahams.
• Jacob Vargas - Manolo Sanchez, Javier Rodriguez's Partner.
• Miguel Ferrer - Eduardo Ruiz, Ayala Distributor
• Amy Irving - Barbara Wakefield
• Luis Guzmán - Ray Castro, Montel Gordon's Partner
• D.W. Moffett - Jeff Sheridan, Assistant to Bob Wakefield.
• Tomas Milian - General Arturo Salazar, Head of Mexican Drug Police.
• Peter Riegert - Michael Adler, Carl Ayala's Attorney.
• Benjamin Bratt - Juan Obrégon, lord of Obrégon Drug Cartel.
• James Brolin - General Ralph Landry.
• Albert Finney - White House Chief of Staff.
• Salma Hayek - Rosario.

Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. ... Steven Bauer (born Esteban Echevarria on December 2, 1956 in Havana,Cuba is a Golden Globe nominated Cuban-American actor. ... Clifton Collins Jr. ... Erika Christensen in The Perfect Score. ... Christopher John Grace (born July 12, 1978), better known as Topher Grace, is an American actor. ... Jacob Vargas (born on 18 August 1971 in Michoacan, Mexico and raised in California, USA) is a Mexican-American actor. ... Miguel Ferrer (born February 7, 1955) is an actor of Puerto Rican-Irish-American descent who is often cast in movies as a villain. ... Amy Irving (born September 10, 1953 in Palo Alto, California) is an American actress. ... Luis Guzmán (born August 28, 1956[1]) is an Puerto Rican actor. ... D.W. Moffett (born October 26, 1954 in Highland Park, Illinois) is an American actor. ... link titleTomas Milian (born Tomas Quintin Rodriguez in Havana, Cuba, on march 3, 1932), is an american actor. ... Peter Riegert (born April 11, 1947 in New York City) is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Donald Schoenstein (aka Boon) in 1978s National Lampoons Animal House and as Sam Posner in the 1988 film, Crossing Delancey. ... Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. ... James Brolin (born on July 18, 1940) is an American television, film, character actor, producer, and director. ... Albert Finney (born May 9, 1936 in Salford, Lancashire, England) is a five-time Academy Award-nominated English actor of Irish descent. ... Salma Hayek Jiménez (born September 2, 1966) is an Academy Award-nominated Mexican actress, Daytime Emmy-winning director, and a film and television producer. ...

External links

• Traffic at the Internet Movie Database
• Traffic at Rotten Tomatoes
• Criterion Collection essay by Manohla Dargis
• Criterion Collection essay by Larry Blake