Traffic
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Steven Soderbergh
Benicio Del Toro
Jacob Vargas
Andrew Chavez
Michael Saucedo
Tomas Milian
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
On a deserted road near Tijuana, while Mexican policemen Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez and Manolo Sanchez wait to intercept an incoming plane carrying a cargo of illegal drugs, they see a truck. The suspicious Javier stops it, finds a large cache of drugs in the back and arrests the drivers. Several cars then speed toward them, and General Arturo Salazar exits one to tell Javier that he has done an excellent job, but his own men will take over. As Ohio Supreme Court Judge Robert Wakefield leaves for Washington to accept the position of U.S. Drug Czar, DEA agents Ray Castro and Montel Gordon are finalizing a sting operation in San Diego, California. Ray and Montel are about to complete the bogus drug buy with dealer Eduardo "Eddie" Ruiz, when pandemonium ensues following the unexpected arrival of local police. Ray and Montel chase the escaping Eddie, who is wounded, and corner him in a children's play palace. In the large Wakefield home in Cincinnati, Robert's daughter Caroline freebases cocaine for the first time with her prep school friend Seth Abrahms, while in San Diego, pregnant Helena Ayala lunches with her friends at the country club. Now in Washington, Robert meets with the Chief of Staff and learns from outgoing drug Czar General Ralph Landry that he will not be able to achieve long-lasting results. Later, Robert attends a cocktail party and listens patiently as Washington insiders offer him advice. In San Diego, Helen's husband Carlos is arrested in front of her and their young son David, while in Mexico, Javier is summoned by Salazar, who tells him that he wants his help in wiping out the Tijuana drug cartel run by the Obregon family. He then shows Javier a picture of ruthless Obregon hitman Francisco Flores, known as "Frankie Flowers," and asks him to bring Frankie to him. After returning to Cincinnati, Robert is annoyed by Caroline's flip comments about his new position, causing friction between himself and his wife Barbara. While a tearful Helena seeks advice from Carl's business partner, Arnie Metzger, in another section of San Diego, Javier makes contact with Frankie in a gay bar, and soon a blindfolded Frankie is driven to Salazar's desert headquarters. At night, in the Wakefield house, Caroline, Seth and several others take drugs and philosophize about life until one of the boys overdoses and goes into convulsions. Seth then drives everyone to an emergency room, where they dump the boy and attempt to flee, but are arrested by the police. At Salazar's headquarters, Javier is disturbed to hear Frankie's screams, while in San Diego, a worried Helena is visited by Arnie, who surreptitiously warns her that the house is bugged. After Caroline is released into her parents' custody, she claims she was only smoking marijuana and barely knew the boy who overdosed, but Robert senses she is lying and later argues with Barbara, who used drugs in college and seems unconcerned about Caroline's experimentation. Some time later, Salazar explains his methods to Javier: first torture, then get the prisoner to love and trust him like a father, after which he will learn everything. Salazar then goes to see a now-broken Frankie and scolds the guard for treating him so badly. In San Diego, Carl is denied bail, while in Cincinnati, Robert asks Assistant District Attorney Dan Collier to drop the charges against Caroline. Collier agrees, but tells Robert that the boy overdosed on heroin and cocaine. In a San Diego hospital, Eddie smugly tells Ray and Montel about the drug pipeline, saying that the war on drugs has been lost, but is afraid to testify against his life-long friend Carl. Frankie, still unnerved by torture, is now dining with Salazar, who cajoles him into revealing the names of the top men in the Obregon cartel. As Javier, Manolo and others arrest the men, telling reporters that credit goes to Salazar, news is broadcast that Porfilio Madrigal, head of the rival Juarez cartel, died during a plastic surgery procedure. A short time later, Javier and Manolo release the terrified Frankie, knowing that he is a marked man. At the border in San Ysidro, California, Robert is frustrated to learn that less than half of the drugs being smuggled into the U.S. are intercepted. When Robert visits El Paso, he is shocked to learn that he has no Mexican counterpart and chagrined that no one on his staff can suggest new strategies. Meanwhile, Caroline and Seth buy drugs in the Cincinnati slums, then get high while having sexin a cheap hotel. In a San Diego park, Helena, who has tearfully told Carl about their dire financial straits, sees a man approach David and is terrified when the man, Tigrillo, threatens the boy, saying that Carl owes $3,000,000 to the Obregons. Across the border, Javier is visited by Ana, Manolo's wife, who tells Javier that she is worried about Manolo. Javier then warns Manolo, who wants to make more money, to be careful of Salazar. Later, Javier is approached by an American who says that he has heard he is not happy with his work. In Arnie's San Diego office, Helena desperately tells him about the $3 million demanded by the Obregons and her fear of being alone, but he says there is no money and tries to comfort her. A short time later, in Mexico City, Javier and Manolo drive a flashy young woman to the new house her older lover has bought her. Javier is stunned when Manolo informs him that the man is Madrigal, whose face has been surgically altered, and says that Salazar has been Madrigal's partner all along. When Robert returns to Cincinnati, he and Barbara bitterly argue over his long absences and her frustration over Caroline's behavior. Barbara leaves and when Robert goes to Caroline's room, he discovers that she has been freebasing and angrily destroys her drug paraphernalia. In San Diego, Javier meets with DEA agents and insists that he will only talk to them in a public swimming pool. He refuses offers of money for information, but talks about a baseball park to prevent kids from becoming criminals. At night, unable to sleep, Helena thinks about what Carl has told her during her visits to him in jail and remembers something about a painting. She goes to the painting and finds hidden microfilm containing numbers and Frankie's name. Robert now flies to Mexico City to meet Salazar and is dismayed by the general's contempt for drug users and treatment programs. Some time later, as Carl's trial begins in San Diego, Eddie, who has agreed to testify against him, is being guarded by Ray and Montel at a faded hotel near the court huse, while Helena hires Frankie to kill him. In Tijuana, as Ana tells Javier that she fears Manolo is selling information to the DEA and will get himself killed, Robert returns to Cincinnati after learning that Caroline has escaped from her expensive rehab facility. While he vainly searches for her, she has sex with a drug dealer and injects heroin for the first time. Outside the San Diego court house, as Frankie plants a bomb under Ray's car, he is observed from a distance by Tigrillo. When court is recessed early, Eddie asks that they walk instead of drive to the hotel, causing a panicked Frankie to call Helena on her cellphone. Helena screams that he should just shoot Eddie in the head, but before he can, Frankie is shot and killed by Tigrillo. When Ray returns to the car, the bomb explodes, killing him. Elsewhere in San Diego, Manolo is nervously sitting at an outdoor café when he is pushed into a car by two of Salazar's men, who had previously handcuffed Javier. Although Manolo protests that he acted alone, both he and Javier are forced to dig their own graves in the desert. When shots are fired, only Manolo is killed and Salazar's men tell Javier that he is now "like family." Javier later comforts Ana, then angrily wanders Tijuana and brushes past Helena as she goes to see Juan Obregon. She makes her deal to have the $3 million debt forgiven and be the Obregons' sole U.S. distributor for cocaine that will be smuggled into the country in teddy bears. At the same time, Javier takes a polygraph test to prove the veracity of his information to DEA agents, but feels like a traitor. Robert is awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call from his aide, who tells him that Salazar has been arrested, but Robert hangs up when Barbara discovers that Caroline has just stolen expensive items from their home. After kissing Barbara, Robert goes to Caroline's school and pulls Seth from his classroom, then forces the belligerent adolescent into helping him look for her. After failing to find her with his drug dealer, Seth leaves, but Robert later follows him to the hotel room where Caroline is with a John. After breaking the door in, Robert sees the high and barely conscious Caroline, then starts to cry and comfort her. On the day of Eddie's testimony, a phony room service waiter delivers his breakfast. After contemptuously telling Montel that his efforts to stop the drug traffic are futile, Eddie has a few bites of the meal then goes into convulsions and dies. Without Eddie's testimony, the charges against Carl cannot be proven and he is set free. In Mexico, Javier has been promoted and is now working with DEA agents, while Salazar is being tortured at his old headquarters. At the White House, Robert begins a press conference but finds it difficult to deliver prepared remarks about the war on drugs. After faltering, he rhetorically asks how you can wage war against your own family and leaves the podium. With Carl now free, he and Helena host a large party at their house. In his study, Carl calls Arnie and confronts him with stealing the $3 million owed to the Obregons and plotting to take over his life. Arnie protests, but it is too late. As Carl hangs up the phone, hired killers enter Arnie's office. A moment later, Montel breaks into Carl's study and loudly accuses him of being a murderer. After Helena and several security people rush in, Montel is escorted out, but not before he plants a "bug" under Carl's desk. In the mid-West, Caroline shyly tells her therapy group that she has good days and bad. When asked to comment, Robert, who is there with Barbara, says that they are just there to listen. At night, in Tijuana, Javier smiles as local boys play Little League in the newly built baseball field.
Director
Steven Soderbergh
Cast
Benicio Del Toro
Jacob Vargas
Andrew Chavez
Michael Saucedo
Tomas Milian
Jose Yenque
Emilio Rivera
Michael O'neill
Michael Douglas
Russell G. Jones
Lorene Hetherington
Eric Collins
Beau Holden
Peter Stader
James Lew
Jeremy Fitzgerald
Russell Solberg
Luis Guzman
Don Cheadle
Don Snell
Enrique Murciano
Gary Carlos Cervantes
Leticia Bombardier
Miguel Ferrer
Carl Ciarfalio
Steve Lambert
Gilbert Rosales
Rick Avery
Mario Roberts
Eileen Weisinger
Ken Johnston
Mike Watson
Kurt Lott
Lincoln Simonds
Steve Tomaski
Buck Mcdancer
John Callery
Ousaun Elam
Brian Avery
Corey Spears
Majandra Delfino
Topher Grace
Erika Christensen
Alec Roberts
Catherine Zeta-jones
Rena Sofer
Stacey Travis
Jennifer Barker
Dean Faulkner
Albert Finney
D. W. Moffett
James Brolin
Daniella Kuhn
Brandon Keener
Governor Bill Weld
George Blumenthal
Stephen Dunham
Senator Don Nickles
Margaret Travolta
Senator Harry Reed
Jeff Podolsky
Jewelle Bickford
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Orin Hatch
Senator Charles Grassley
Dave Hager
Tucker Smallwood
Steven Bauer
Marisol Padilla Sanchez
Amy Irving
Dennis Quaid
Clifton Collins Jr.
Victor Quintero
Toby Holguin
Ramiro Gonzalez
Viola Davis
James Pickens Jr.
Peter Riegert
Elaine Kagan
John Slattery
Jim Ortega
Greg Boniface
Tom Rosales
Rudy M. Camacho
Vonte Sweet
Ed Breving
Yul Vazquez
Jack Conley
Eddie Velez
Craig N. Chretien
John Brown
Mike Siegel
Salma Hayek
Joel Torres
Steve Rose
Kimber Fritz
Harsh Nayyar
Mary Pat Gleason
Vincent Ward
Benjamin Bratt
Jsu Garcia
Gregory Estevane
Alex Procopio
Rita Gomez
Kaizaad Navroze Kotwal
David Jensen
Jay Fernando Krymis
Mike Malone
Rene Pereyra
Kymberly S. Newberry
Carroll Schumacher
Michael Showers
Crew
Alex Acuna
James C. Alfonso
Fran Allgood
Rusty Amodeo
Dale E. Anderson
Peter Andrews
James Apted
Valentina Aulisi
Dustin Ault
Herb Ault
Russell Ayer
Adam L. Barker
Trey Batchelor
Chris Beanes
Jason Bedig
Ludwig Von Beethoven
Richard Bennetti
Rick Benoit
Julianne Berkowitz
Greg Berry
Elizabeth Besio
Loren Bess
David Betancourt
Laura Bickford
Carrie Black
Larry Blake
Brent Blom
Clelio Boccato
Jill Bogdanowicz
Carlos Boiles
Richard Boris
Joseph F. Brennan
Gary Brewer
Carrie Brody
Shawn J. Broes
Michael Brook
Jay E. Brooks
Jeffrey Brooks
Jerrold F. Brooks
Frederic W. Brost
Brumby Broussard
Glenn Brown
Keri Bruno
Eric Bryant
Joachin Cervera Buenfil
John B. Bullard
Gary Burritt
Glyn Bush
Frank Alan Butler
William Butler-sloss
Kyle Carden
Lisa Carey
Doreen L. Carpenter
Jon Carpenter
Manuel Castillo
Patricia S. Chapman
R. Michael Charske
Gary Cheek
Robert Chookhachian
Craig N. Chretien
Bonnie Clevering
Angie Lee Cobbs
Matt Coby
Manuel D. Cocar
Mark Coffey
Beryl Cohen
Robin Cohen
Charles Conn
Norman Cook
Deirdre Costa
Carole Cowley
Andreas Crawford
Douglas Crise
Gary D. Cruise
Keith P. Cunningham
Renee D. Czarapata
Paulinho Da Costa
Chic Daniel
Robert Darwell
R. Michael De Chellis
Stacy De La Motte
Loretta James Demasi
Betsy Dennis
Mark Dometrovich
Molly A. Donnellon
Dale A. Douglas
Bill Duffin
Michael Jon Duffin
Caz Duffy
P. Caleb Duffy
Robert W. Dulys
Guy A. Duquette
Alan Easley
Skye Edwards
Tobias Enhus
Brian Eno
E. J. Butch Ertel
Louie Esparza Jr.
John Falvey
Robert Fidalgo
Dawn Fintor
Kevin 'rambo' Fitzgerald
Flea
Carlos Flores
Jay Floyd/now Clear This!
Christopher Forrest
Gerard Forrest
Julius Friede
Louise Frogley
Stephen Gaghan
Jay Gallagher
Hank Giardina
William Gideon
Aaron Glascock
Bernard A. Glavin
Leon L. Glavin
Kevin Globerman
Paul Godfrey
Ross Godfrey
Tim Golden
Chris Gorden
Kathrine Gordon
Billy Grace
Shane Greedy
Kristopher Gregg
Wylie Young Griffin
Josh Gummersall
Werner Hahnlein
Ronald Hairston Jr.
Ronald E. Hairston
Tamiko Hairston
Erik Hakanen
Quentin Halliday
Herbie Hancock
Edward T. Hanley
Kevin Hannigan
Jeffrey C. Harris
William D. Harrison
Keith Heileman
Lilli Heinrich
Phillip Helman
Marshall Herskovitz
George Herthel
Jason Hinkel
Paul Howarth
Blair Huizingh
Kelvin Hunter
Mike Hutmacher
Barry Idoine
Alicia Irwin
Gregory Jacobs
Kathrine James
Karen Jarnecke
Gary Jay
Marisol Jimenez
Jonny R. Johnson
Cameron Jones
Adrian Grunberg Kaufman
Steven Kerlagun
Graham King
Richard Kite
Andreas Klein
Joyce Kogut
Bud Kucia
Michael La Corte
Valerie Nadja Lancelot
J. T. Lannen
Graham Larson
Lance Larson
Vincent Lavares
Ken Lavet
Robin L. Le Chanu
Paul Ledford
James V. Lingle
Keri Littledeer
David Low
Sonya Lunsford
Mike Malone
Caitlin Maloney
Duane C. Manwiller
Francisco Mares
Denise Marquez
Bob Marshak
Cliff Martinez
Daniel Martinez
Antoine Mascaro
Thomas J. Mcgowan
Meaghan F. Mclaughlin
Steven B. Melton
Tony Mercier
Ken Merritt
Kristen Toscano Messina
Philip Messina
Alan Meyerson
Annie Miller
Jerry Miller
Melody Miller
Stephen Mirrione
Robert Mitas
Rick Mitchell
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Wins
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Director
Best Director
Best Editing
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actor
Award Nominations
Best Picture
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
There are no opening credits on the film, other than a title card that reads "USA Films" followed by the start of the action with the word "Traffic" on the lower left side of the screen. In the end credits, following director Steven Soderbergh's name, names of the principal cast members appear, beginning with Michael Douglas. The complete cast appears later, in order of appearance, as listed above. Salma Hayek, who appears briefly in the film as "Porfilio Madrigal's" mistress, did not receive screen credit.
Soderbergh also acted as the director of photography for the film, although he used the pseudonym "Peter Andrews" in the onscreen credits. According to the film's presskit, he did so because the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) would not accept his proposed credit, "Directed and photographed by Steven Soderbergh."
Various news items and feature articles document the complicated distribution history of the film. Initially, Traffic was to be co-financed and distributed by Fox 2000, then was to picked up by USA Films after Fox put the project into turn around. A late February 2000 news item in Screen International noted that the film "had made a U-turn and gone back to Fox" with Fox Searchlight set to co-finance the film and North American distribution to be handled by Twentieth Century Fox. By May 2000, however, production charts confirmed another shift in domestic distribution, with USA Films again listed as the domestic distributor and Initial Entertainment Group set for international distribution. The film lists the following production and distribution credit: "A Bedford Falls/Laura Bickford Production//A USA Films Presentation//in Association with Initial Entertainment Group."
According to various Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety news items and Hollywood Reporter production charts in early 2000, Harrison Ford was initially cast in the film as "Robert Wakefield." When Ford withdrew from the project, actors Kevin Costner, Al Pacino, Tommy Lee Jones and Richard Gere were variously reported as being considered for, or pursuing, the role. In March 2000, Douglas, who news items noted had first been offered the role but declined, became interested in it again, especially after his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, was cast as "Helena Ayala." Although they had no scenes together, Traffic marked the first film in which Zeta-Jones, who was pregnant in real life as well as in the story, appeared with Douglas.
Traffic differed from the British television mini-series on which it was based, Traffik, in that the American film concentrated on the Mexican drug connection, whereas the British series dealt with the Pakistani connection. When the British mini-series was released on DVD in the U.S. in July 2001, several reviews compared it favorably to the American film, although some British reviewers expressed the opinion that the film was superior.
Although Traffic was presented in a seemingly chronological order, the various storylines were interwoven, with the action switching back and forth among them. Occasionally longer sequences set in one place were intercut with shorter scenes or quick shots of action that was taking place in another. All of the scenes set in Mexico appeared in a yellow tone, and many of the scenes set in Cincinnati appeared in a blue tone. Most of the dialogue for the scenes set in Mexico was spoken in Spanish, with English subtitles.
The film's presskit and news items note that extensive shooting in done in San Diego, CA. Additional locations included Nogales, Mexico, Las Cruses, NM, El Paso, TX, Columbus and Cincinnati, OH, Georgetown and Washington, DC and Los Angeles. Early news items estimated the film's budget variously to be between $30 to $40 million or $60 to $65 million, however, a Los Angeles Times article on December 25, 2000 estimated that the film's final budget was $50 million.
As noted in a Los Angeles Times "Morning Report" news item on April 27, 2001, representatives for the exclusive Cincinnati County Day School announced that they had reached a settlement with USA Films and would not sue over Traffic's identification of the long-established school as the one attended by "Caroline Wakefield." School officials said that they were never asked for permission to use their name.
In addition to being selected as one of AFI's top ten films of 2000, Traffic was included in numerous top ten lists and was honored with many awards. It also earned four Academy Awards, including Best Director for Soderbergh, Best Supporting Actor for Benicio Del Toro, Best Adapted Screenplay for Stephen Gaghan and Best Film Editing for Stephen Mirrione. The film was nominated for Best Picture, but lost to Gladiator. Soderbergh was also nominated in the Best Director category for Erin Brockovich. Del Toro won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, with other Golden Globe nominations going to Zeta-Jones for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Soderbergh for Best Director, Gaghan for Best Screenplay and the film Best Picture, Drama.
Gaghan won the WGA award for Best Screenplay and Del Toro won the SAG award for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role. The Traffic cast also won SAG's Outstanding Cast Performance Award, and the film won three ALMA awards, for Outstanding Feature Film, Outstanding Latino Cast and Outstanding Soundtrack. In March 2001, Traffic also had the distinction of being selected as a topic for 5 shows on ABC's prestigious Nightline news analysis program, the first film to be discussed on the program. In 2002, an American television mini-series, based on both the British series and the American film was produced by USA Network for broadcast in late 2003. The series, also titled Traffic, was directed by Eric Bross and Stephen Hopkins, and starred Elias Koteas.
Miscellaneous Notes
Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Actor (Benicio Del Toro) at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival.
Co-winner of two 2000 awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay along with "Wonder Boys" (USA/2000) and Best Director along with "Erin Brockovich" (USA/2000) from the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Also nominated for the award for Best Picture.
Nominated for the 2000 Award for Best Costume Design in a Feature Film - Contemporary from the Costume Designers Guild (CDG).
Nominated for the 2000 award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Feature Film from the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
Nominated for the 2000 Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature - Drama, from the American Cinema Editors (ACE).
Voted one of the 10 best films of 2000 by the American Film Institute (AFI).
Winner of the 2000 award for Best Director from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
Winner of the 2000 award for Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published from the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
Winner of the 2000 award for Best Supporting Actor (Benicio Del Toro) from the Online Film Critics Society.
Winner of the 2000 awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Benicio Del Toro) from the New York Film Critics Circle.
Winner of three 2000 Golden Satellite Awards, including Best Picture - Drama, Best Director and Best Ensemble Cast Performance, from the International Press Academy.
Winner of two 2000 Awards, including Best Actor (Benicio Del Toro) and Best Ensemble Cast, from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
Winner of two 2000 awards, including Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Benicio del Toro), from the Chicago Film Critics Association.
Winner of two 2000 awards, including Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Benicio Del Toro), from the National Society of Film Critics.
Released in United States Winter December 27, 2000
Expanded Release in United States January 5, 2001
Released in United States on Video May 29, 2001
Released in United States February 2001
Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (in competition) February 7-18, 2001.
Harrison Ford was previously attached to star.
Project was previously set up at Fox Searchlight.
Began shooting April 8, 2000.
Completed shooting June 21, 2000.
Simon Moore's miniseries "Traffik" (United Kingdom/1990) was originally produced by Carnival Films for Britain's Channel 4 Television.
Released in United States Winter December 27, 2000
Expanded Release in United States January 5, 2001
Released in United States on Video May 29, 2001
Released in United States February 2001 (Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (in competition) February 7-18, 2001.)
Winner of the 2001 Artios Award for Feature Film - Drama by the Casting Society of America (CSA).
