Traffic (2000 Film)

''Traffic'' is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: users, enforcers, politicians, and traffickers. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the characters do not meet each other. The film is an adaptation of the 1989 British Channel 4 television series '' Traffik''. The film stars an international ensemble cast, including Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, Michael Douglas, Erika Christensen, Luis Guzmán, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jacob Vargas, Tomas Milian, Topher Grace, James Brolin, Steven Bauer, and Benjamin Bratt. It features both English and Spanish-language dialogue.

20th Century Fox, the original financiers of the film, demanded that Harrison Ford play a leading role and that significant changes to the screenplay be made. Soderbergh refused and proposed the script to other major Hollywood studios, but it was rejected because of the three-hour running time and the subject matter—''Traffic'' is more of a political film than most Hollywood productions. USA Films, however, liked the project from the start and offered the filmmakers more money than Fox. Soderbergh operated the camera himself and adopted a distinctive color grade for each storyline so that audiences could tell them apart.

''Traffic'' was released in the United States on December 27, 2000 and received critical acclaim for Soderbergh's direction, the style, the complexity, the messages, and the performances (particularly del Toro's). ''Traffic'' earned numerous awards, including four Oscars: Best Director for Steven Soderbergh, Best Supporting Actor for Benicio del Toro, Best Adapted Screenplay for Stephen Gaghan and Best Film Editing for Stephen Mirrione. It was also a commercial success with a worldwide box-office revenue total of $207.5 million, well above its estimated $46 million budget.

In 2004, USA Network ran a miniseries—also called ''Traffic''—based on this film and the 1989 British television series.

Plot

Mexico storyline

In Mexico, police officer Javier Rodriguez and his partner Manolo Sanchez stop a drug transport and arrest the couriers. Their arrest is interrupted by General Salazar, a high-ranking Mexican official who decides to hire Javier. Salazar instructs him to apprehend Francisco Flores, a hitman for the Tijuana Cartel, headed by the Obregón brothers. Salazar expresses that he wishes to shut down the Obregón cartel and that Flores will be the first step in doing so.

Back in Tijuana, Flores, under torture, gives Salazar the names of important members of the Obregón cartel, who are soon arrested. Javier's and Salazar's efforts begin to cripple the Obregón brothers' cocaine outfit, but Javier soon discovers the truth. While transporting a woman under Salazar's orders, Javier and Manolo discover the house they arrive at is the home of Porfirio Madrigal, "The Scorpion"; the drug lord of the Juárez Cartel.

The two officers deduce that Salazar is a pawn for the Juárez Cartel, and that the Mexican anti-drug campaign is a fraud. Salazar has been wiping out the Obregón cartel for profit, secretly being aligned with Madrigal and his Juárez operation. Manolo attempts to sell the information of Salazar's true affiliation to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) but Salazar discovers his plot and has him murdered in the desert with Javier being forced to watch. No longer able to handle working for Salazar, Javier arranges a deal with the DEA. Javier expresses grief for turning against his government, but agrees to exchange his testimony for electricity in his neighborhood. If the neighborhood has electricity then the children will be able to play baseball at night where it's safe, instead of being lured into the toxic underworld of drugs and crime. Eventually, all of Salazar's secrets are revealed and he is placed under arrest. Soon after Salazar is shown dying in the same prison where Flores was tortured.

As the film ends, Javier is later shown sitting among other people on some bleachers at night. The people watch as young children laugh and play with one another during a game of baseball, none the wiser to the dark events of the drug world beyond them. Javier looks on knowing that, for a moment, the cycle of crime and pain has been stopped.

Wakefield storyline

Robert Wakefield, a conservative Ohio judge, is appointed to head the President's Office of National Drug Control Policy, taking on the title drug czar. Robert is warned by his predecessor and several influential politicians that the War on Drugs is unwinnable. Robert's teenage daughter, Caroline, a highly accomplished honors student, has been using cocaine, methamphetamine, and soon begins using heroin. Almost immediately, Caroline becomes addicted after her boyfriend Seth introduces her to freebasing