Traffic

Traffic is a 2000 crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the intricacies of the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker, whose lives affect each other even though they do not meet. The film is an adaptation of the British Channel 4 television series Traffik.

Originally planned to be made with 20th Century Fox, the film was shelved unless actor Harrison Ford agreed to star and significant changes to the screenplay were made. Soderbergh was subsequently turned down by all other major Hollywood studios because of three-hour running time and the subject matter. USA Films agreed to finance and offered the filmmakers more money than Fox. The director operated the camera himself and adopted a distinctive look for each story so that audiences could tell them apart and to avoid any confusion.

Traffic was a commercial success with a worldwide total of $207.5 million, well above its estimated $48 million budget. It was also well-received critically and earned numerous awards, including four Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2004, USA Network ran a miniseries—also called Traffic—based on the movie and the earlier television series.

Cast and characters

Mexico storyline

• Benicio del Toro as Javier Rodriguez, a Baja California police officer
• Jacob Vargas as Manolo Sanchez, Javier Rodriguez's partner
• Tomás Milián as General Arturo Salazar, head of Mexico's anti-drug campaign
• Salma Hayek as Rosario, a drug lord's mistress

Wakefield storyline

• Michael Douglas as Robert Wakefield, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
• Amy Irving as Barbara Wakefield, Robert Wakefield's wife
• Erika Christensen as Caroline Wakefield, the Wakefields' teenage daughter
• Topher Grace as Seth Abrahams, Caroline Wakefield's boyfriend
• D. W. Moffett as Jeff Sheridan, executive assistant to Robert Wakefield
• James Brolin as General Ralph Landry, Robert Wakefield's predecessor as Director of the ONDCP
• Albert Finney as White House Chief of Staff

Ayala/DEA storyline

• Steven Bauer as Carlos Ayala, a distributor for the Obregón drug cartel
• Catherine Zeta-Jones as Helena Ayala, Carlos Ayala's wife
• Dennis Quaid as Arnie Metzger, Helen Ayala's lawyer and Carlos's partner
• Clifton Collins, Jr. as Francisco Flores, a hitman for the Obregón drug cartel
• Don Cheadle as Montel Gordon, a DEA agent
• Luis Guzmán as Ray Castro, Montel Gordon's partner
• Miguel Ferrer as Eduardo Ruiz, Carlos Ayala's subordinate
• Peter Riegert as Michael Adler, Carlos Ayala's defense attorney
• Benjamin Bratt as Juan Obregón, drug lord of the Obregón drug cartel