On HBO, Traffic would have been a true epic. 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. In the end, Traffic: the Miniseries is just a cool story, weaving narco-terrorism with Homeland Security. Mary McCormack also shines as Koteas wife, not your typical damsel in distress. Koteas displays the same subdued heroism here as he did in Thin Red Line opposite Nick Nolte. 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. Gaghan agreed to rework the role, adding several scenes that ended up in the finished film. Ford met with Soderbergh to flesh out the character. With 3 separate plot threads running concurrently, Traffic adeptly navigates the viewer through the labryinthine story with little confusion and much suspense. Starring: Don Cheadle, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Dennis Quaid, Benicio del Toro. Harrison Ford was initially considered for the role of Robert Wakefield in January 2000 but would have had to take a significant cut in his usual 20 million salary. The miniseris is purely plot driven, with skin-deep characters provided to push the plot along. That said, I was surprised by how engrossed I became in the plot. Directed by Steven Soderbergh Release date 6 December 2000 Runtime 147 minutes RYM Rating 3.32 / 5.00. Aside from the common theme of drugs, Traffic bears very little resemblance to Michael Douglas movie of the same name. 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.
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