Traffic

PLEASE!!! Is it not possible to make a show anymore that does NOT have the "amateur" camera movement. In my heart, I KNOW the anti-jiggle technology built into cameras now would enable a 5 year old to shoot steady shots.

They probably offer "Jiggly Camera 101" in film school now.

And why, please why, do we need 7-10 different camera shots of someone's face in rapid succession for a scene in which 1 or 2 would do nicely? Editor/splicers need the work, I guess.

I did not care for the movie, so I expected just about what I got from the mini series. Very little.

Glad they are repeating Dennis Miller's new show, which is running against this. Wifey wanted Traffic. She pays the bill, so guess what we watched.

In short, good stories; and their presentations never die. And in acceptance of this, despite the "sure deals" and "assumed audience" that USA had working for them, they have managed to develop a brilliant scheme that played out. "Traffic", in it's own right, is a beautifuly executed miniseries of it's own. And should be allowed to stand on those legs, despite it's legacy. For this is an issue that man has left unfounded,; and to be so humanistlicly illustrated, quite possibly more than it's predecesor. For this is a story about our own legacy's, our own weaknesses - which has managed to play it self out in of all places: Our Televisions.

I own and have watched the Euro (not the HBO) mini-series numerous times. I originally saw Traffic (the Movie) at the theater when it was released. I own that video as well and have also watched it numerous times. I would give the mini-series a 7.5/10. Even for the time, some of the dialog is cheesy and some of the characters actions are less then believable. Both films require serious suspension of disbelief to swallow the ignorance of the main drug trafficker's (German/La Jolla) wife. Anybody with that kind of dough would have set up legitimate, working businesses to launder money and to create layers of cover. What bother me most is that somebody can come along and give the film a 1 star rating because it didn't have a "message". That puts this film in the category of the worst pix of all time and draws down user rating unfairly. That is a pet peeve of mine and made me register here just to defend this film. Maybe IMDb adjusts for this in there stats. I don't know. But I judge a movie based on how it holds up after repeated viewings. And, even knowing the story through and through, I get drawn in by the first scene and Del Toro's on-screen presence. From the on it's like sliding into an easy chair... If you haven't seen either version then I envy you. Don't pass up this or the original mini-series. They are both worth your time.

Traffic looks at the issue of smuggling in drugs, people and of course weapons of mass destruction. It ties the issues in distant lands, the war terrorism to things such as your children and your home.

Unfortunately it does it with that sort of 1980s cop show drama feel, though taking itself far more seriously. What is more, the simplistic anti-drug and anti-terrorism messages are not that interesting.

All in all, it is an OK series, it is well made. The plot may be cheap, but the plot twists are enough to keep it going.

What is more, the acting is superb and the realism of characters lifts this out of morass.

A drug bust goes bad in US occupied Afghanistan, a merchant marine boat is scuttled while smuggling illegal immigrants, and the bank forecloses on a Wharton MBA's insolvent real estate deal -- the first 50 pages of a new Clancy novel? No, these 3 completely nonsequitur events happen in the first half hour of Traffic: The Miniseries.

Aside from the common theme of drugs, Traffic bears very little resemblance to Michael Douglas movie of the same name. That said, I was surprised by how engrossed I became in the plot. The miniseris is purely plot driven, with skin-deep characters provided to push the plot along. With 3 separate plot threads running concurrently, Traffic adeptly navigates the viewer through the labryinthine story with little confusion and much suspense.

Noteworthy performances are Elias Koteas and Martin Donovan as 2 DEA agents charged with the sisyphean task of de-stabilizing the same Taliban drug operation they helped organize in the 80s. Koteas displays the same subdued heroism here as he did in Thin Red Line opposite Nick Nolte. Mary McCormack also shines as Koteas wife, not your typical damsel in distress.

In the end, Traffic: the Miniseries is just a cool story, weaving narco-terrorism with Homeland Security. I would have enjoyed seeing this writ large a la HBO, bigger budget, better locales (Vancouver, BC doubles for everything from Seattle to Afghanistan), and stark dialogue. On HBO, Traffic would have been a true epic. On USA, it's a just a long stanza (Damn you, Barry Diller, spend some $$$!)