Traffic (2000 film)

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Traffic
Image:Traffic poster.JPG
Directed by	Steven Soderbergh
Written by	Simon Moore Stephen Gaghan
Starring	Michael Douglas Den Cheadle Benicio Del Toro Catherine Zeta-Jones Dennis Quaid
Produced by	Laura Bickford Marshall Herskovitz
Distributed by	USA Films
Release date	December 27 2000
Runtime	147 min.
Language	English
Budget	$48,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb page

Traffic is a film directed by Steven Soderbergh that explores the intricacies of the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: user, enforcer, politician and trafficker.

The three main intersecting plot lines center around characters played by Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. There is a large supporting ensemble cast, including brief appearances by actual politicians Bill Weld, Don Nickles, Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Orrin Hatch and Charles Grassley. Harrison Ford was originally sought for the film, but he turned down the opportunity in favour of starring in K-19: The Widowmaker: a decision described by the magazine Total Film as the 5th "dumbest decision in movie history".

Based loosely around the British Channel 4 television series Traffik, the film avoids sanctimony and was responsible for renewed discussion of drug issues in the United States. In 2004, USA Network ran a miniseries — also called Traffic — based on the movie.

Soderbergh won an Academy Award for Directing for the film. Del Toro won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor despite the fact that most of his dialogue was in Spanish.