Traffic: A

Steven Gaghan went on, after this movie, to craft the cryptic Syriana. A movie about the evils of oil and greed. It won George Clooney and Oscar and earned Gaghan the second of his two Oscar nods for his writing. Some loved his movie, some hated it. His first feature, the epic Traffic, is far less muddled, and by extention, much more engrossing. The movie, directed by the chameleonic Steven Soderbergh, follows the lives of several different people and their connection to two warring drug cartels: the Obregons and the Juarezs. Micheal Douglas is the newly minted drug czar working to bring them down. Across the border, so is General Salazar. Catherine Zeta-Jones is the housewife who suddenly has to take over her husband's secret distribution buisness for the Obregons after he is whisked away by the DEA. Don Cheadle and Luiz Guzman are the federal agents assinged to monitor her. Benecio Del Toro is the mexican cop who gets caught up in Salazar's war, and his partner is caught in the cross fire. As you can tell there are nearly a dozen main characters in this arresting drama but Soderbergh directs with a finesse and an assurity that makes watching them all as easy as breathing. Plus the script, by Mr. Gaghan, is everything expected from a movie of this scope: crafty, intelligent, poignant, spiraling, comedic, and suspenseful. The final result of this movie will leave you somewhere in between the state of breathlessness and ecstasy (no drug puns intended) and will keep you thinking even after you turn it off.