MOVIE GETS IT RIGHT

'Traffic' Shows Drug War's Front Lines

How many times have you stormed out of a movie theater, furious at yourself
for wasting time and money on some mindless trash trumpeted as first-rate
entertainment? Or perhaps simply lamenting your failure to have waited a
few months for the more economical video rendition? At least with a video
you can fast-forward through the more obnoxious previews of coming
attractions while controlling the volume.

A sort of Gresham's law seems to pervade Hollywood, particularly now with
so many films aimed at juvenile audiences. One need only peruse the local
listings to see the dumbing-down effect. Sequels of mediocre films have
become so commonplace that "Groundhog Day," which seemed like such a clever
concept several years ago, proved to be prophetic.

But just when we are tempted to throw up our hands in total despair, some
enterprising filmmaker gets it right, or about as close as can be expected,
given Hollywood's penchant for never letting the facts get in the way of a
good story.

A recent case in point is the film "Traffic," which is receiving fulsome
praise from critics, audiences and, most important, some of the folks on
the dangerous front lines of the drug war.

The 147-minute film, much of which was shot in San Diego and Tijuana, tells
a riveting story on several levels. Rather than resort to a simplistic view
of the good guys vs. the bad, director Steven Soderbergh dares to craft a
morally ambiguous tale that defies simple solutions. That's good because
decades of waging a war on drugs have left this nation and a succession of
U.S. drug czars questioning their initial assumptions about the magnitude
of this multibillion-dollar problem.

"Traffic" is all the more powerful because it is prompting millions of
moviegoers of various ages to rethink their attitudes about the degree to
which substance abuse and addiction have affected the culture. The film's
indelible images of corruption, degradation and downright evil are
unsettling, to be sure. But people need to be stirred from their
complacency about the massive collateral damage done by drugs.

One of the film's more salutary effects is its sympathetic characterization
of a decent Mexican cop, trying to do his job and survive in a
law-enforcement culture of chronic deception. We need to be constantly
reminded that there are such individuals, who risk and sometimes lose their
lives in this war.

"Traffic" has a few Hollywood detours that disappoint. In the main,
however, this is a mature, multifaceted movie that makes people reflect,
rather than grumble as they leave the theater. That, in itself, is no small
achievement at a time when drivel like "Dude, Where's My Car?" is boffo
box-office.