Absorbing war on drugs story in 'Traffic'

Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta

It has been a long time since the hip generation first took on movies about drugs. These young filmmakers tend to produce films in visual styles that mainly attract younger audiences.

Not that these films are bad, in fact, most of them are great. Among these entries is the recent, highly acclaimed Requiem for a Dream, which was directed by the young and talented Darren Aronofsky.

The film's stylistic approach may alienate older, more conservative audiences despite its powerful, no-holds-barred portrayal of the ugliness of drugs.

Another is the wildly celebrated British offering, Trainspotting, which has already become a sort of classic movie for the hip and hip-wannabes.

Despite these films' clear opposition toward drug use, they also inevitably glamorize their subject matter as well.

Traffic, on the other hand, is more conventional but nevertheless as absorbing as its great predecessors.

In the hands of director Steven Soderbergh, the film takes a more mature and serious approach in telling its story. There are no hallucinatory images which come from drug users when they are under the influence, such as the toilet-diving sequences in Trainspotting or the flashy body reaction when drugs are being taken in Requiem for a Dream.

Compared to the other two films, Traffic might seem visually flat. Maybe this is the reason why some people find the film less entertaining than they might have expected.

However, those who are looking for a real class act from a film's cast will have plenty to chew on.

Soderbergh is very well known for his stylish storytelling. In fact, moviegoers are unlikely to get enough of his sure-handed films such as the more artsy sex, lies, and videotape (NOTE FOR EDITOR: THE TITLE HAS NO CAPITAL LETTERS) and the pop, more entertaining Out of Sight, which is also a very sexy film.

In Traffic, the director has managed to make a film with many principal characters, only some of whom are connected to each other, yet it seems solid.

All right, it is not as easy to watch as his highly enjoyable Erin Brockovich but it is still a very rewarding experience.

The film tells multiple stories about drug dealers, users, and those who are fighting against drugs for various reasons.

The first is the ambitious Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) who has just been appointed as the new head of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Despite Wakefield's seemingly uncompromising attitude toward drugs, he fails to realize that he has a drug problem within his own family, which, in the beginning, he refuses to acknowledge.

Then there are two battle-hardened DEA agents, Ray Castro (Luiz Guzman) and Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) who are determined to catch the big fish by arresting drug dealer Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer) and talking him into testifying against his drug cartel boss.

There is also the story of the unsuspecting wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) of the drug cartel boss who finds out what his husband has been doing to make a living.

Traffic, loosely based on a TV mini-series, manages to leave it to the audience whether it wants to be optimistic about the film's subject matter or pessimistic instead.

Either way, audiences are unlikely to feel that they are being preached at while watching the film.

Traffic, *** out of four stars Drama, 147 minutes Starring Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, Catherine Zeta-Jones Directed by Steven Soderbergh A USA Films Presentation Contains explicit scenes of drug use In English and Spanish with Bahasa Indonesia subtitles