Traffic

An excellent movie showing different sides in the war on drug and also why it does ultimately not really work. Interesting, educating and also disturbing at times.

An interesting film for sure. The idea of showing multiple prospectives of the drug world is cool and I like how no one truly wins in the end. Everyone loses something. I think as a consequence for so many perspectives it does also feel like a bit of a mess to watch. There's just not enough time for each character to become developed. There's also no grand victory that's won its moreso just a snapshot into the war on drugs. Overall I thought it was worth watching but not really top cinema for me. I give it a solid 8/10.

Benicio del Toro is amazing.

There’s a great movie in here, it’s just held back by bad production choices.
The cinematography in particular hasn’t aged well, and I’m not even against the idea of lo-fi aesthetics, but the colour grading of this movie is so amateurish and lacking any balance.
Still, I like the story and characters, you can see how it lays the groundwork for shows like _The Wire_ by focussing on its subject from a systemic, even academic, perspective and the acting’s solid.
Are all the subplots equally as interesting? No, but I was never bored either, mostly because everything is structured and connected so interestingly.
I’m of the opinion that most remakes are completely redundant and useless, but I’d honestly welcome another filmmaker making a new, definitive version of this script.
This version I do find recommendable, but you should honestly just watch _The Wire_.

6.5/10

**Well done and definitely worth watching.**

Although the interlinked stories device is a bit played out nowadays, it wasn’t at the time of release. Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, and Benicio del Toro are great in this. The weakest story is definitely the daughter’s and Topher Grace really plays to type here.
>_Francisco: “I don't really like guns. You shoot someone in the head three times and some pinche doctor will keep them alive.”_

Some great performances here. I’m surprised to learn that there was little post-production digital color correction–the cinematography effects all seem to have been created in-camera. I might’ve edited this down a bit, but it holds up as a decent look at the drug trade.

>"You guys remind me of Japanese soldiers on deserted islands who still think World War 2 is still going on. The fact is that your government surrendered this war a long fucking time ago."

Maybe I should've watched this when it came out, because I didn't love it like everyone else did. It was not bad, just definitely feels outdated. There are some good moments and I like that it shows the drug world from many different perspectives, just overall I don't think it will be something I need to watch again.

When I saw the movie it was a four, then it was so damn shameful ending so it became a third. Now that I think about it, it's probably just a second anyway.

This film is a masterpiece and everyone who says otherwise is wrong.