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Steven Soderbergh's new film, Traffic, arrives in Chicago already hailed as one of the best films of the year (the year 2000, according to Hollywood's dysfunctional dating system), winning the Best Picture nod from the New York Film Critics and capturing the runner-up prize from the National Film Critics Society and the LA Film Critics. It's a "serious" drama about a hot topic with a top-notch cast and accomplished director. That these strengths seem to have blinded some critics to the movie's noticeable flaws is unfortunately not surprising.

An Altman-esque examination of the War Against Drugs, Traffic stars Michael Douglas (Wonder Boys) as the U.S. drug czar, Don Cheadle (Out of Sight) and Luis Guzman (The Limey) as undercover D.E.A. agents, Catherine Zeta-Jones (Entrapment) as a pregnant woman whose husband has been arrested for dealing drugs, and Benicio Del Toro (The Usual Suspects) as a Mexican policeman who may or may not be on the level. As if four story lines weren't enough, the above list doesn't even include a pair of teenagers whose drug habit spirals out of control, a Mexican general with his own ties to the drug cartel, a defense attorney, and a hitman for hire.

To help the audience keep the stories separate, Soderbergh (who also did the cinematography for the film) resurrects his heavy use of color filters. But while those seemed like a stylistic choice in movies like The Underneath, here they serve a prosaic narrative function. When the screen turns a dark shade of blue, we know we're in Michael Douglas's story; when it turns yellow and grainy, we're down in Mexico.

These different hues also help the audience grasp the connections as various plot threads merge together--a group of teenagers is also filmed in blue, helping the audience connect Michael Douglas to his daughter (a gripping performance from newcomer Erika Christensen); when Zeta-Jones heads to Tijuana, we know where she is by the golden filter Soderbergh uses. 

With the dozen-plus characters and various locations, Soderbergh and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan are clearly trying to encapsulate the drug war in a two-hour film, and in many ways they succeed. The Mexican thread is particularly enlightening as we peer into the difficulties two relatively honest cops face as they are pressured from all sides. Douglas is also compelling as a drug fighter who doesn't realize the war's front lines have reached his own home. But the screenplay is far from perfect.

The story's most significant flaw is the lack of a credible, urban, black character. In a movie centered around the drug war and with as many storylines as Traffic has, this omission is striking. It's as if Robert Altman's Nashville had chosen not to include a country music singer. Instead, the only inner-city figure is a highly-sexualized drug dealer (he has the only nude scene in the movie), whose sole narrative purpose seems to be to scare the heck out of every suburban white parent in America. To make things worse, the one attempt at explaining/elucidating the African-American viewpoint comes from the mouth of a smug, rich, white kid in a speech that is unintentionally but still truly offensive to any law-abiding African American. 

The script has other problems as well. Catherine Zeta-Jones's character makes an abrupt and awkward 180-degree turn midway through the film, and Douglas is forced to recite a ludicrous speech that would've seemed corny in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

You might not notice these problems, though, until well after the movie is over, as the acting and direction in Traffic are so mesmerizing. Michael Douglas gives another strong performance as a father desperately trying to connect with his daughter, and Zeta-Jones overcomes the script's limitations to present a compelling portrayal. But the real stars of the movie are Benicio Del Toro and Don Cheadle. As cops on different sides of the border, they offer realistic portrayals that are funny and deeply touching. Del Toro in particular is fantastic. As my friend Garth put it, he takes a potentially flat and simplistic character and infuses him with honesty and emotion. It is appropriate that the movie's final shot shows Del Toro sitting in a dusty stadium watching youngsters play baseball. In a difficult film, this ultimate moment of grace brought a tear to my eye.

Is Traffic the best movie of the year? No way. But does it have some of the year's best acting and directing? Absolutely. 

J. Robert Parks 1/8/20001