“Traffic,” a contemporary thriller set in the world of drug trafficking and enforcement, paints a bleak picture of the current state of the war on drugs and its casualties.
Through a series of interrelated stories, the film tackles the world of drug trade as seen through the eyes of an undercover Drug Enforcement Agency officer, a Mexican policeman, an increasingly drug-addicted teenager and a pampered wife set to take over her husband’s drug empire.
“I think what’s interesting is the scope of (the movie) - it’s vast,” said Emmy-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan.
And “Traffic” just may be the feel-good drug movie of the holiday season, the stoner comedy “Dude, Where’s my Car?” notwithstanding.
That’s what Gaghan said of the one to two minutes of cheer in the otherwise violent and intense movie.
Gaghan went all around the country to research the story, he said in a telephone interview Wednesday from New York City, where the film was having a premiere. His sources included the deputy secretary of defense, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the DEA.
“I went around and talked to 50 to 100 people who were on the front lines on the war on drugs,” Gaghan said. “Something really did emerge - despair. None of them thought the war on drugs was working.”
He said what he found were plenty of officials who don’t know what to do about the problem and a bureaucracy that doesn’t have a lot of ideas, either.
“I felt sorry for these people because they had gotten in a hole and couldn’t get out of it,” Gaghan said. “All these people - no one felt like the public understands what they’re doing. We wanted to make a movie that wasn’t so heavily biased.”
To maintain that objectivity, Gaghan wrote a script with a massive scope - 130 speaking roles and 10 main characters. Michael Douglas stars as the U.S. president’s new drug czar, Benicio Del Toro plays a Mexican policeman battling corruption and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dennis Quaid play a drug lord in waiting and her scheming lawyer, respectively.
“We wanted something that would spark a debate,” Gaghan said. “You don’t do that by turning off your audience, since it touched upon a hot button issue - utterly a failed drug control policy.”
After growing up in Kentucky, Gaghan began his career writing short stories for the literary magazine “The Iowa Review.” He’s written episodes for television shows such as “The Practice” and “NYPD Blue,” for which he won an Emmy in 1997. He also wrote the screenplay for “Rules of Engagement.”
For the duration of his most recent project, Gaghan worked closely with director Steven Soderbergh (“Out of Sight,” “Erin Brockovich”). Because much of the production was done while between studio support, the two were able to get the story across without much meddling.
“In the movie, Steve and myself were able to work without interruption,” Gaghan said. “It was an unusual situation - tens of millions of dollars to make a movie done by a writer and a director closed up in a hotel room.
“By pleasing ourselves, I think we made something unique,” he said. “I promise you this won’t happen again.”
“Traffic” is unique because it handles the subject differently than a Cheech and Chong movie, said Jennifer White, director of the East Lansing Film Society.
“For the most part, the most important part you see in movies is negative - drug dealers - a fast-paced life that ends badly and tragically,” White said.
“Even if it’s portrayed in a negative light, it still has a little bit of mystery behind it,” she said.
“Traffic” opens Dec. 27 in New York and Los Angeles. It opens Jan. 12 nationwide.
