954. TRAFFIC (2000)

Running Time: 147 minutes
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
Written By: Stephen Gaghan, from miniseries Traffik by Simon Moore
Main Cast: Michael Douglas, Benicio del Toro, Catherine Zeta Jones, Don Cheadle, Erika Christensen
Click here to view the trailer

A DOUBLE SHOT OF SODERBERGH: 2 of 2

 Two nights ago, I took a look at Soderbergh's debut feature, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape"; tonight I take a look at the movie that earned him his first and only Academy Award for Best Director - "Traffic".

The film follows several different plots, utilizing an all-star cast and interconnected plot lines to tell it's story of drug trafficking. We start out in Tijuana, Mexico where Javier Rodriguez (del Toro), a member of the state police, is fighting the drug problem in his own, underhanded way, accompanied by his partner, Manolo (Jacob Vargas). Later, Rodriguez falls in with some bad company, in the form of General Salazar, a Mexican authority of high rank. In Washington, D.C., Robert Wakefield (Douglas) is taking a new position as head of the Office of National Drug Control, where he'll lead the fight in the "war on drugs". However, Wakefield may not be prepared for the new position, as he can't even tackle the drug problem in his own home, in Cincinnati, where his teenage daughter, Caroline (Christensen) is addicted to cocaine and various other substances. Meanwhile, in a San Diego suburb, a housewife, Helena (Zeta Jones) copes with the arrest of her husband, a big time drug smuggler, who is heading to trial. Helena is also an expectant mother and is harassed on a daily basis by drug lords who are owed money by her jailed husband. The San Diego story also follows two DEA agents, Montel (Cheadle) and Ray (Luis Guzman), as they nab Carlos Ayala, another big time drug lord and put him under witness protection until he can testify against Helena's husband.

On paper, "Traffic" looks like a home run. An all-star cast consisting of a total of 130 actors and actresses honing their craft, 110 locations, filming with handheld cameras, using original editing techniques (different color hues on the lens to separate the varying story arcs). All this done to tell a powerful story and using three different plot lines and a documentary style to really hammer home the full effects that drug trafficking has on the public.  But, in the end, "Traffic" just wasn't the film for me. I think "Traffic" reminded me why I don't take politics and real life events, like drug trafficking, with my movies. Because when you start to tie in things of this nature, movies stop becoming an escape and start becoming a reminder. There's that classic scene in "The Purple Rose of Cairo" where Cecilia goes to the movies, after having her heart broken and the film ends with her smiling, because the film provided for her an escape from the perils of day to day life. "Traffic" and other movies that implement politics and our troubled world into their plots, don't allow us to escape, but more resemble a CNN program. I'm not saying it's ALWAYS bad to implement real world issues into your plot, I'm just saying that "Traffic" did it in such a realistic way that it turned me off - perhaps that's a credit to the picture.

I didn't like much about "Traffic", so to highlight the positives would be very difficult. I did like the Erika Christensen storyline, or at least, it was the most interesting storyline to me. Of course, it wasn't all that original - teenage girl gets hooked on drugs, daddy swoops into try and help - perhaps one of the most overused plot lines in modern cinema and television. None of the actors really struck me as standout. The book makes note of Catherine Zeta Jones' performance and how it's probably her best. I, on the other hand, realized what a overrated actress she is when I watched this. I'll even go bolder and say the same thing for Michael Douglas. He just did not impress me here and when I thought about it, he has never really impressed me in anything he's done. I'll give some props to Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro, they did fine jobs, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that the latter deserved an Academy Award for his skills. As far as the editing and camerawork are concerned, I'll give credit there too, as the film did use some imaginative to heighten their story, but when the story isn't up your alley, it really doesn't matter if they have pink dolphins dancing in all four corners of the screen, nothing's going to wow you. Let's just suffice it to say that I've had better times at the movies than the time I had with "Traffic".

RATING: 3.5/10  Perhaps the worst film I've watched this 100 so far. However, that's not really saying much, because I haven't seen too many stinkers yet, during this batch.

MOVIES WATCHED: 440
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 561

May 3, 2012  8:54pm

808. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

Running Time: 99 minutes
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
Written By: Steven Soderbergh
Main Cast: James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, Laura San Giacomo
Click here to view the trailer

A DOUBLE SHOT OF SODERBERGH: 1 of 2

This is actually the first of three "double shots" that I'll be featuring during this batch of 100 films. I actually didn't plan on doing one for Steven Soderbergh, but I received "Traffic" in the mail from Netflix and owned a copy of this, so I figured, what the hell.

 There are four principle characters in Soderbergh's 1989 debut feature, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape". First off, you've got Ann Bishop Mullany (MacDowell), a woman in therapy, who worries about problems facing the world - problems she has no control over. Ann is married to John (Gallagher). The two have a sex life that is basically non-existent. Sex doesn't interest Ann and she even goes so far as to admit that she's never had an orgasm. As Ann spills her problems to her shrink, what she doesn't know is that John is having an affair with her sister, Cynthia (San Giacomo). John is a junior partner at a high profile law firm, who continually pushes his clients to the back burner in order to sneak out of the office for a quickie with his sister-in-law. Lastly, there's Graham (Spader), the most important piece of the puzzle. Graham and John went to college together and as the film opens, Graham is riding back into town, for a reunion with his old friend. Graham and John quickly realize that they've grown into different people and in an effort to get more time with Cynthia, John sends Ann out to apartment hunt with Graham. What spawns is a relationship between Ann and Graham, that starts as a friendship but grows into something deeper.

SPOILER ALERT!

I saw this film for the first time, many years ago. In fact, when I first saw this film I was probably a teenager and probably liked it more because of it's sexual subject matter, rather than for the reasons intended. When I re-watched it again tonight, I realized that there was a lot here to take in and a lot to like. Lets start with the cast of characters, of which Soderbergh doesn't waste any time establishing. In fact, Soderbergh gives us all we need to know about each character within the first ten minutes (maybe less) of the film and from there we have enough information and feel like we already know everyone included. He establishes Ann as a sort of an oddball, worrying about menial things. Ann is also a bit of a prude, who blushes when her therapist asks her about masturbation and detests foul language. John is a cocky, lying lawyer, who steps out on his wife on a daily basis. Cynthia's role really isn't that big, as she's just kind of there. She is who she is, a brash mouthed southern girl, who loves sex and gets off at the thought of "doing it" in her sister's bed. And then you have Graham, who we don't get to know fully until the picture progresses, but who is a loner and a drifter, a man who enjoys the fact that his key ring only has one key. Once these very different, but very interesting characters are established, it's not hard to immerse yourself into the plot of the film.

Later, we learn that Graham is impotent and even later than that, we learn that he gets off on videotaping women, asking them questions of a sexual nature (their first sexual experience, their fantasies, what they've done, what they'd like to do) and later, re-watching the tapes and pleasuring himself. To Graham, this is his way of making love to these women. Since he can't get an erection in the physical presence of them, he, instead, gets an erection in the videotaped presence of them. During the scenes where we're actually seeing the videotapes on the screen, the soundtrack that plays is an eerie, intense music, almost something out of a horror flick. It feels as though we shouldn't be seeing what we're seeing and Soderbergh does a great job of making us feel uncomfortable. It's a good kind of uncomfortable though, an uncomfortable that is meant to be, that makes you realize how powerful those certain scenes are. Of course, the final climax leads to the videotaping by Graham of Ann. The way it all plays out is quite brilliant. First we see the videotape start and then we flash forward to a shot of, what seems to be, Graham assisting Ann back into her clothes. Later, we see all the juicy details and it's up to us to fill in the blank, a pretty obvious blank if you ask me.

The end also sees Ann divorce John and John fall even further when it's hinted that he also loses his job. At the very end, we see Ann arriving home and when the shot pans out we see that she's arriving home to Graham. The film ends with the two sitting on the porch, making small talk about an impending rainfall. It's a really nice, low key ending that I really thought was suitable. It's an ending that says, despite being a big part of a relationship, sex isn't everything. You had these two completely different characters, from a sexual standpoint, in Graham and Ann. One who wanted nothing to do with sex, didn't want to talk about it and certainly didn't want to do it and the other who was consumed with it, possibly because he wasn't physically capable of doing it. In the end, their sexual desires (or lack thereof) meet at a crossroads and the two end up better off for it. Ann finally unleashes her sexual repression and Graham, possibly because he's in love with Ann, overcomes his impotency and his desire to videotape women.

It's a film where you can pick the characters, their actions, their motivations and their dialogue (and what fantastic dialogue!) apart and really peel back the film, study it and immerse yourself in it. The acting is A+ all the way and even though I love "The Office", this film really makes you realize that James Spader needs to get off that show and get into some more high profile films, because the guy can go with the best of them. The direction is top notch too and even the editing is flawlessly done. As a viewer we're made to feel uncomfortable and awkward at various times throughout the picture, but anytime a filmmaker can make us feel what they want, that's always a great feeling.

RATING: 8/10  Man, the hits just keep on coming! Check back later this week for my review of "Traffic", the continuation of Seven Shadows and the April 2012 recap. Whoo! Busy week!


MOVIES WATCHED: 437
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 564


May 2, 2012  2:14am