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Back in
1989 Channel 4 took many plaudits for a hard hitting, six
hour serial about drugs trafficking. The series was called
Traffik and won four BAFTA's.
A decade
later and Hollywood has produced its own big bucks version
(and got round to spelling Traffic correctly).
Like its
television predecessor, the movie version of Traffic
is already a big hit in America and recently won a clutchful
of Golden Globes. Oscar nominations are just around the corner
and in truth they'll be well deserved.
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| If
anyone says I look like David Jason I'll sue |
Like the
TV series, Traffic the movie tells three separate stories
which don't actually overlap but are linked by the drugs theme.
In one,
Michael Douglas plays a US drugs czar who experiences the
problem first hand when his daughter becomes addicted. Running
alongside is the tale of a Mexican policeman desperate to
defeat the local drugs cartels. And then there's Catherine
Zeta Jones. She's under surveillance by two narcotics cops
who are convinced she knows all about her husbands drug smuggling
set-up.
Much of
Traffic's pre-publicity has centred on the Douglas/Zeta
Jones partnership even though the two don't actually meet
on screen.
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| He
is not old and I didn't just marry him to boost my career.
Bet you're not going to the Oscars though |
What's
good about this film is it doesn't rely on shoot-out after
shoot-out. Director Soderbergh made his name with Sex,
Lies and Videotape, ironically in the same year the TV
Traffik was released. More recently he's enjoyed success
(and awards) with Erin Brockovitch.
He's not
afraid to try different techniques, draw scenes out with dialogue,
use Spanish dialogue in the story of the Mexican drugs officer.
Hats off
to Zeta Jones It's a long way from the Darling Buds of
May but she's stuck with it and with Zorro, Entrapment
and now Traffic (plus a handy marriage) she needn't
worry about Z list celebrity appearances on Blankety Blank
for many years to come.
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