Traffic

Traffic, motion-picture drama about the illegal narcotics trade and efforts to curb it by the government and law enforcement in the United States and Mexico. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the movie is loosely based on Traffik, a 1989 British television miniseries about the European drug trade. The film interweaves three different plotlines. The first deals with an Ohio Supreme Court judge (played by Michael Douglas) who has just been appointed to head U.S. drug policy efforts but is reluctant to face the problem in his own family, the second follows a pair of Mexican state policemen (Benicio Del Toro and Manolo Sanchez) who struggle to work within a corrupt system that profits from the drug business, and the third tracks two Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzmán) who bust a narcotics kingpin in the tony neighborhoods of San Diego, California.

Director

• Steven Soderbergh

Cast

• Michael Douglas (Robert Hudson Wakefield)
• Don Cheadle (Montel Gordon)
• Benicio Del Toro (Javier Rodriguez)
• Luis Guzmán (Ray Castro)
• Dennis Quaid (Arnie Metzger)
• Catherine Zeta-Jones (Helena Ayala)
• Steven Bauer (Carlos Ayala)
• Jacob Vargas (Manolo Sanchez)
• Erika Christensen (Caroline Wakefield)
• Clifton Collins, Jr. (Francisco Flores, aka Frankie Flowers)
• Miguel Ferrer (Eduardo Ruiz)
• Topher Grace (Seth Abraham)
• Amy Irving (Barbara Wakefield)
• Beau Holden (Cal-Trans DEA Agent #1)
• Peter Riegert (Attorney Michael Adler)
• Benjamin Bratt (Juan Obregón)
• Tomas Milian (General Arturo Salazar)
• Marisol Padilla Sánchez (Ana Sanchez)
• Albert Finney (Chief of Staff)
• Joel Torres (Porfirio Madrigal, aka “The Scorpio”
• D. W. Moffett (Jeff Sheridan)
• James Brolin (General Ralph Landry)
• Majandra Delfino (Vanessa)
• Alec Roberts (David Ayala)
• Bill Weld (Himself—Governor)
• Don Nickles (Himself—Senator)
• Harry Reid (Himself—Senator)
• Jeff Podolsky (Himself)
• Barbara Boxer (Herself—Senator)
• Orrin G. Hatch (Himself—Senator)
• Charles Grassley (Himself—Senator)
• James Pickens, Jr. (Prosecutor Ben Williams)
• Rudy M. Camacho (Customs Official)
• Yul Vazquez (Tigrillo/Obregón Assassin)
• Jack Conley (Agent Hughes)
• Eddie Velez (Agent Johnson)
• Craig N. Chretien (Director of EPIC)
• John Brown (Assistant Director of EPIC)
• Mike Siegel (DEA Representative)
• Stephen J. Rose (Marty)

Awards

• Academy Award for Best Director (2000): Steven Soderbergh
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (2000): Benicio Del Toro
• Academy Award for Best Screenplay, Adapted (2000): Stephen Gaghan
• Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor—Drama (2000): Benicio Del Toro
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay (2000)

Trivia

• Director Soderbergh was also the cinematographer on the movie, using handheld cameras to give the action a grittier feel.
• In a rare achievement, Soderbergh was nominated for the best director Academy Award for two movies in the same year—Erin Brockovich and Traffic. He won the award for Traffic.