By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * * * )
Inspired by Traffik, a TV series that screened here some years ago, Steven Soderbergh traces North America's drug traffic through several parallel stories.
Michael Douglas has the strongest role, as Judge Robert Wakefield, appointed by the White House as America's "drug czar".
He is a good man and his daughter, Caroline (Erika Christensen), is an outstanding student — until she tries crack cocaine, and likes it very much, and he loses her.
In Mexico, two hardworking cops (Benicio Del Toro and Jacob Vargas) intercept a big drug shipment but are themselves intercepted by troops commanded by an army general (Tomas Milian) who is supposed to be his country's drugs czar.
In California, a middleman (Miguel Ferrer) imports drugs; two federal agents (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman) are on his trail.
That operation is run by a respectable millionaire (Steven Bauer); his socialite wife (Catherine Zeta Jones) has no idea where her money comes from.
Traffic shows how drugs are marketed, how laws are sidestepped by a multi-million dollar industry. Soderbergh doesn't preach, but his movie points out how the "war against drugs" will never be won because the forces and interests protecting it are too great.
Running time: 147 mins
Rental: Today
