By
Graig Uhlin
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Brockovich director steers clear of heart-warming, moves towards hard-hitting
Grade: A
Steven Soderbergh is walking a fine line between independent and big-studio filmmaking. 1989's "sex, lies and videotape" established the director as one of independent film's premier artists - but since the release of his Julia Roberts vehicle, "Erin Brockovich," his movies have taken on a more Hollywood feeling.
Soderbergh's latest endeavor, "Traffic," is a sprawling epic - maybe more so than Ridley Scott's "Gladiator," which had more spectacle than subtance - that takes a wide-angle look at America's drug war. The film hits every side of the issue - from the abusers to the dealers to the politicians to the people who run the cartels, as it deconstructs the political and business and human aspects of the fight against drugs.
Featuring a remarkable ensemble cast, "Traffic" is structured around three main story-lines, all afforded equal attention. The most interesting of the three is the one concerning a Mexican policeman Javier Rodriguez, played compellingly by Benicio Del Toro in one of this year's best supporting performances, who works the border seizing drugs as he attempts to manuever through the tricky politics of the job and avoid the corruption that presents a daily temptation.
Also notable is Michael Douglas, who plays Robert Wakefield, the newly appointed drug czar, whose daughter spends her time freebasing in the bathroom while her daddy is out talking to politicians about the drug problem in America. Julia Stiles-clone Erika Christensen gives an incredible performance as Wakefield's drugged-out daughter Caroline.
The final story line centers around Helena (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the pregnant wife of a big-time drug smuggler who gets arrested for his illegal and lucrative hobby. Helena demonstrates astounding fierceness as she takes charge of her husband's business, while the trial is pending, and orders a hit on the prosecution star's witness. All part of a day's work for those involved in the drug trade.
The film's strength lies in its objectivity. Soderbergh has thankfully forsaken the plucking of heart-strings and the happily-ever-after endings of his more Hollywood films. Instead he once again takes advantage of the subtlety of his earlier films. The distance he maintains from the subject matter is commendable considering how easy it is to dramatize a hot-button issue like the war on drugs.
Compare, for instance, the other drug-themed movie of last year, Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream." Aronofsky's film is, in simple terms, a lyrical anti-drug commercial. His characters (Aronofsky solely focuses on the abuse side) fall to unbelievable depths because of their addictions, in an attempt to frighten anyone from thinking about experimenting with drugs.
Soderbergh has a different but equally effective approach. He does not simplify. He does not dramatize. He just shows his audience what it is like, as he lays out the complicated problem of America's war on drugs, and, be warned, even manages to pull a heart-string or two.
Before "Traffic," Soderbergh was running dangerously close to selling out. "Brockovich" was a heart-warming David-and-Goliath tale of one woman's quest to successively sue a large corporation for endangering the lives of the residents of a nearby town. The good guys win, the bad guys lose and Julia Roberts' breasts make memorable cameos, and the film left audiences heart-warmed and tear-streaked.
Yet even "Brockovich" had an independent feel - a smart script and stellar acting kept the film from becoming "Grinch"-sappy - so audiences still had hope for their fave director. And then came the release of "Traffic," rounding out the one-two punch that he delivered to audiences in search of good cinema this year, as it places the director right in the center lane, so to speak, between independent and Hollywood filmmaking.
