Traffic feels like a small, independent film despite a cast that’s among the current "who’s who" of Hollywood. Steven Soderbergh, who also brought us the somewhat more commercialized Erin Brokovitch earlier this year, directs this great movie. He’s a unique talent with roots in independent films (Sex, Lies & Videotape), who has risen to the top of Hollywood’s directorial elite. I’ve always liked his movies (particularly Out of Sight and The Limey), and feel that this is probably his best. He’s not a guy who does the same thing twice.

Using a gritty, almost documentary style, Soderbergh also acts as his own cinematographer and takes us through a compelling, and sometimes shocking view of America’s war on drugs. Using multiple storylines, Soderbergh effectively shows how drugs infiltrate and continue to grow in our society. While it’s certainly not a pretty picture, it feels all too real.

Supplementing Soderbergh is a knockout cast that is going to land plenty of awards come Oscar time. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a wealthy and beautiful woman who learns that her husband is really a drug kingpin in California. Michael Douglas plays a judge who lands a job as the top-government official to combat the war on drugs, while at home his teenage daughter has become addicted to cocaine. Don Cheadle and Luis Guzmán play federal police officers trying to do their best in what appears to be a war they can never win. However, my favorite is Benicio Del Toro as Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez. He’s an odd actor who rarely finds a film that he can flourish in, until now. Here he plays an honest Mexican cop who fights the war against drugs on his own terms, while trying to avoid succumbing to the corruption that plagues law enforcement in his country.

I absolutely loved this movie and give it a ****1/2 rating. It’s probably the best of the year. It has a unique and gripping visual style that perfectly compliments the complex storyline. Frankly, this and the harrowing Requiem for a Dream should be mandatory viewing in our schools to help fight drug use in our society. They both deliver a more powerful and longer-lasting message than all the anti-drug ads I’ve seen.

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