Benicio-Del-Toro Movie Reviews

I blind bought the movie after some friends recommended it to me. This is McQuarrie's first shot at directing, he wrote the the excellent ¨The Usual Suspects¨. While this isn't on par with his previous work, it's well written, has a good story with an amazing amount of depth (you can find a few Shakespear themes here if you feel like digging in), and it also has one amazing action sequence and two very intense and original ones.

Ryan Phillipe and Benicio del Toro are Parker and Longbough, two criminals who kidnap a young surrogate mother who is carrying a rich couple's baby who have quite a few connections. The story revolves around Parker and Longbough and how all the other characters are connected to them. In the end everything is tied in nicely. This movie gets better with more viewings too.

The acting here is top notch, Benicio Del Toro is great as usual and Phillippe is surprisingly good. The supporting roles are great too, Taye Diggs and Nikky Katt are pretty good as the bad guys and James Caan gives a good performance as a ¨bagman¨. Juliette Lewis, while annoying at times, also gives a believable performance.

The DVD isn't too shabby either. The video is sharp and the sound, while it depends on dialogue throughout most of the film, is great in the action scenes. The extras include commentary by Director, Storyboards and Scrips for deleted scenes, cast and crew bio. One complaint though is that the DVD doesn't inclue any type of subtitles, don't know why.

Overall: A well written,and plotted movie,with good performances,and surprising depth.

Highly entertaining and extremely well written. The writing alone makes the movie worth seeing. It has a great western feel as well that keeps things interesting throughout. My favorite line is one Juliette Lewis and Ryan Phillipe have with each other: Lewis-"I like bacon." Phillipe-"Its from a gas station." Lewis-"Its still good." Some well choreographed gunfights, witty banter, great acting, and a terrific score elevate this flick from generic crime caper/b-movie to classic cult film status.

This is truly a classic!It is writer/director Christopher McQuarrie's astonishing film debut.McQuarrie was the man behind the story of "The Usual Suspects". The film follows two partners in crime "Parker"(Ryan Phillippe) and "Longbaugh" (Benicio Del Toro).They'll do anything to get their hands on some cash.So while donating sperm in a sperm bank they over hear a conversation about a girl, Robin (Juliette Lewis) who's a surrogate mother of a wealthy couple.The girl is getting paid 1 million dollars for doing it.The couple tell the girl what to eat, when to go out, and there's bodyguards watching her every minute, Jeffers (Taye Diggs) and Obecks (Nicky Katt). "Parker and "Longbaugh" hear the doctor's name who is involved with Robin's check-ups, Dr Allen Painter (Dylan Kussman).They find out where his hospital is and await Robin's arrival. There's a superb shoot-out between "Parker", "Longbaugh" and the two bodyguards.As a result of this P+L leave with the girl and demand a ransom of 15 million dollars. Everything you could imangine goes disastrously wrong.This film has everything including a great cast, good story, good lines,great and funny characters, great action sequences, especially at the end.This film is just pure,sheer brilliance!

I blind bought the movie after some friends recommended it to me. This is McQuarrie's first shot at directing, he wrote the the excellent ¨The Usual Suspects¨. While this isn't on par with his previous work, it's well written, has a good story with an amazing amount of depth (you can find a few Shakespear themes here if you feel like digging in), and it also has one amazing action sequence and two very intense and original ones.

Ryan Phillipe and Benicio del Toro are Parker and Longbough, two criminals who kidnap a young surrogate mother who is carrying a rich couple's baby who have quite a few connections. The story revolves around Parker and Longbough and how all the other characters are connected to them. In the end everything is tied in nicely. This movie gets better with more viewings too.

The acting here is top notch, Benicio Del Toro is great as usual and Phillippe is surprisingly good. The supporting roles are great too, Taye Diggs and Nikky Katt are pretty good as the bad guys and James Caan gives a good performance as a ¨bagman¨. Juliette Lewis, while annoying at times, also gives a believable performance.

The DVD isn't too shabby either. The video is sharp and the sound, while it depends on dialogue throughout most of the film, is great in the action scenes. The extras include commentary by Director, Storyboards and Scrips for deleted scenes, cast and crew bio. One complaint though is that the DVD doesn't inclue any type of subtitles, don't know why.

Overall: A well written,and plotted movie,with good performances,and surprising depth.

Highly entertaining and extremely well written. The writing alone makes the movie worth seeing. It has a great western feel as well that keeps things interesting throughout. My favorite line is one Juliette Lewis and Ryan Phillipe have with each other: Lewis-"I like bacon." Phillipe-"Its from a gas station." Lewis-"Its still good." Some well choreographed gunfights, witty banter, great acting, and a terrific score elevate this flick from generic crime caper/b-movie to classic cult film status.

This is truly a classic!It is writer/director Christopher McQuarrie's astonishing film debut.McQuarrie was the man behind the story of "The Usual Suspects". The film follows two partners in crime "Parker"(Ryan Phillippe) and "Longbaugh" (Benicio Del Toro).They'll do anything to get their hands on some cash.So while donating sperm in a sperm bank they over hear a conversation about a girl, Robin (Juliette Lewis) who's a surrogate mother of a wealthy couple.The girl is getting paid 1 million dollars for doing it.The couple tell the girl what to eat, when to go out, and there's bodyguards watching her every minute, Jeffers (Taye Diggs) and Obecks (Nicky Katt). "Parker and "Longbaugh" hear the doctor's name who is involved with Robin's check-ups, Dr Allen Painter (Dylan Kussman).They find out where his hospital is and await Robin's arrival. There's a superb shoot-out between "Parker", "Longbaugh" and the two bodyguards.As a result of this P+L leave with the girl and demand a ransom of 15 million dollars. Everything you could imangine goes disastrously wrong.This film has everything including a great cast, good story, good lines,great and funny characters, great action sequences, especially at the end.This film is just pure,sheer brilliance!

I don't like Wesley Snipes, it is one of that many american actors that couldn't transmit emotions, in every movie you think he performs the same character. Trying to be cool is not acting!
The other protagonist played by Robert de Niro is very similar to Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver). It's very sad to see that Mr de Niro, one of the best actors ever, accepted all scripts he became in the last years, without considering the quality of the movie.
Tony Scott made some of the most interesting films of the last two decades and like his brother I think he can still surprise us in the future.
The soundtrack inlcudes Nine Inch Nails, one of the most influential rock band of the nineties!
"The Fan" is not a bad movie (at least it's not boring), but perhaps prescindible and personally I expected much more, considering the cast and the direction.

It may be true that everyone during their lifetime has fifteen minutes of fame, even if in most cases it only lasts about a minute and a half. And if that minute and a half comes early in life, how far into adulthood can you carry it with you, and when does a healthy memory become an obsession that finally blurs the line between reality and fantasy? "The Fan," directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes, is an intense and disturbing motion picture that examines that moment and the effects it can have on the lives of those either directly or indirectly involved. Here, the focus is on one Gil Renard (De Niro), a knife salesman in San Francisco and a die-hard Giants fan who is pumped about the acquisition during the off-season of superstar centerfielder Bobby Rayburn (Snipes), whom he believes will bring a pennant to the team. Once a player himself-- a pitcher-- Renard's life has since been on a downhill slide. Divorced, he has a young, little league aged son, Richie (Andrew J. Ferchland), with whom he has an unsettling relationship, and at work, his sales have been so poor his job is on the line. An angry, disturbed individual, Renard has reached a pivotal point in his life; for inspiration, he continually returns to the philosophies of the catcher from his playing days, Coop (Charles Hallahan), whom he considers one of the finest athletes he ever knew. And as his life continues to deteriorate, his obsessions begin to add further to the imbalance of his perceptions of reality, which finally lead him past a point of no return.

Scott's film, of course, has less to do with baseball than it does with how the game itself actually relates to life and the things that really matter. As Rayburn says at one point, "We're not curing cancer here." But to those to whom life has been reduced to that minute and a half to which they still cling, the game can be everything. And it is just that unhealthy obsession that Scott examines in this film, that comparatively insignificant moment that in the obsessive mind becomes an episode of monumental importance that finally distorts any semblance of reality the individual may have left. What's truly frightening is that upon close scrutiny, in Renard there is much with which many viewers will be able to relate in one way or another: The anger, the frustration and perhaps the inability to let go of that minute and a half, even when it threatens to become more than just a pleasant memory, but an unhealthy lifeline to another place and another time that, in reality, may never have existed in the first place. It's like a search for self-esteem by the has-been-who-never-was, who can neither realize nor accept it's elusiveness. As Renard says to Richie, "Baseball is better than life, because it's fair. You hit a sacrifice fly and it doesn't count against your average." An ideal that has forever eluded Renard; in his life, he's never been able to "give himself up for the team" and get anything in return for it.

As Renard, De Niro gives an explosive performance that at first glance may seem to have a bit of Travis Bickle and Max Cady in it-- which in fact it does-- though upon closer inspection, Renard is a unique character. Those with a disturbed mind may have traits in common, as these characters De Niro has portrayed certainly do; but De Niro has successfully given each of them an individual personality, and when viewed side by side, the differences are readily apparent. Bickle may be a sociopath, Cady a cold blooded killer; but Renard is a man who was just never able to get a handle on his life and has allowed his obsessions to dictate the choices he has made along the way. De Niro is simply a master of his craft, with the ability to make his characters so real that a performance like this one is often overlooked; this is Oscar worthy work for which he never received the acclaim he was due. His Renard is so like someone you would run into in your everyday life that in retrospect, it's scary. But it's the kind of performance we've come to expect from De Niro, and as usual, he does not disappoint.

Wesley Snipes, as well, gives a solid performance as Rayburn that is one of his best ever, which is not surprising when you consider with whom he was working. If you study De Niro's films, you may discover a common thread running through them with regard to his co-stars. De Niro has the ability to make those with whom he is working better; and it's something that stays with them forever after. Consider Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep before "The Deer Hunter," or Ed Harris before "Jacknife." Certainly they were exceptional talents before, but they have arguably been better since. And Snipes is no exception. Nor is Benicio Del Toro (Recipient of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for "Traffic"), who gives a memorable turn here as Rayburn's rival outfielder, Juan Primo.

The supporting cast includes Patti D'Arbanville (Ellen),Ellen Barkin (Jewel), John Leguizamo (Manny), Chris Mulkey (Tim), Dan Butler (Garrity) and Brandon Hammond (Sean). A thought provoking thriller that gives some real insight into the cause and effect of the psyche of human nature, "The Fan" is like an open wound that may hit too close to home for some. And to dismiss this as just a "baseball" movie or another "action" flick would be a mistake, for there is much more here than meets the eye. In the end, those who pay attention will ultimately reap the rewards it proffers.

If you want someone to play a psycho, who else but the immensely talented Robert DeNiro? In "The Fan," based on Peter Abraham's novel, De Niro plays Gil, a washed up knife salesman who is obsessed with baseball. He's divorced from his wife, but has been able to maintain a relationship with his young, impressionable son. However, as Gil becomes more psychotic, his ex-wife realizes the potential danger so she puts out a restraining order. Meanwhile, Wesley Snipes' Bobby Rayburn recently purchased by the Giants for a cool forty million wants his #11 back, which has been given to Benito Del Torio's Juan Primo. And then the slump hits Snipes. DeNiro displays his loyalty by trying to get Primo to surrender the number and when he refuses, well it's....you can imagine. Onward then, DeNiro finds a wonderful opportunity to get into Snipes life by rescuing his son, Sean, who is drowning. He and Snipes almost bond, until Snipes confesses that he just doesn't care anymore, baseball is just a game. Snap goes what little is left of DeNiro's sanity and we face a showdown in a rain-drenched night game.
Maybe overwrought, but Director Tony Scott handles everything so well, he elevates his film above it's derivative plot. Some of the baseball scenes are quite beautiful; Ellen Barkin and Patti D'arbinville shimmer in great supporting roles; John Lequizamo as Snipes' manager is good, and Charles Hallahan (so good in the remake of "The Thing") has a brief, but effective cameo as Coop, Gil's childhood buddy.
Hans Zimmer's score is hauntingly beautiful and there are nice effects from the many Rolling Stones tunes that fill the picture. San Francisco looks beautiful, and the whole effect is quite effective.
An underrated thriller, highly recommended.

I don't like Wesley Snipes, it is one of that many american actors that couldn't transmit emotions, in every movie you think he performs the same character. Trying to be cool is not acting!
The other protagonist played by Robert de Niro is very similar to Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver). It's very sad to see that Mr de Niro, one of the best actors ever, accepted all scripts he became in the last years, without considering the quality of the movie.
Tony Scott made some of the most interesting films of the last two decades and like his brother I think he can still surprise us in the future.
The soundtrack inlcudes Nine Inch Nails, one of the most influential rock band of the nineties!
"The Fan" is not a bad movie (at least it's not boring), but perhaps prescindible and personally I expected much more, considering the cast and the direction.

It may be true that everyone during their lifetime has fifteen minutes of fame, even if in most cases it only lasts about a minute and a half. And if that minute and a half comes early in life, how far into adulthood can you carry it with you, and when does a healthy memory become an obsession that finally blurs the line between reality and fantasy? "The Fan," directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes, is an intense and disturbing motion picture that examines that moment and the effects it can have on the lives of those either directly or indirectly involved. Here, the focus is on one Gil Renard (De Niro), a knife salesman in San Francisco and a die-hard Giants fan who is pumped about the acquisition during the off-season of superstar centerfielder Bobby Rayburn (Snipes), whom he believes will bring a pennant to the team. Once a player himself-- a pitcher-- Renard's life has since been on a downhill slide. Divorced, he has a young, little league aged son, Richie (Andrew J. Ferchland), with whom he has an unsettling relationship, and at work, his sales have been so poor his job is on the line. An angry, disturbed individual, Renard has reached a pivotal point in his life; for inspiration, he continually returns to the philosophies of the catcher from his playing days, Coop (Charles Hallahan), whom he considers one of the finest athletes he ever knew. And as his life continues to deteriorate, his obsessions begin to add further to the imbalance of his perceptions of reality, which finally lead him past a point of no return.

Scott's film, of course, has less to do with baseball than it does with how the game itself actually relates to life and the things that really matter. As Rayburn says at one point, "We're not curing cancer here." But to those to whom life has been reduced to that minute and a half to which they still cling, the game can be everything. And it is just that unhealthy obsession that Scott examines in this film, that comparatively insignificant moment that in the obsessive mind becomes an episode of monumental importance that finally distorts any semblance of reality the individual may have left. What's truly frightening is that upon close scrutiny, in Renard there is much with which many viewers will be able to relate in one way or another: The anger, the frustration and perhaps the inability to let go of that minute and a half, even when it threatens to become more than just a pleasant memory, but an unhealthy lifeline to another place and another time that, in reality, may never have existed in the first place. It's like a search for self-esteem by the has-been-who-never-was, who can neither realize nor accept it's elusiveness. As Renard says to Richie, "Baseball is better than life, because it's fair. You hit a sacrifice fly and it doesn't count against your average." An ideal that has forever eluded Renard; in his life, he's never been able to "give himself up for the team" and get anything in return for it.

As Renard, De Niro gives an explosive performance that at first glance may seem to have a bit of Travis Bickle and Max Cady in it-- which in fact it does-- though upon closer inspection, Renard is a unique character. Those with a disturbed mind may have traits in common, as these characters De Niro has portrayed certainly do; but De Niro has successfully given each of them an individual personality, and when viewed side by side, the differences are readily apparent. Bickle may be a sociopath, Cady a cold blooded killer; but Renard is a man who was just never able to get a handle on his life and has allowed his obsessions to dictate the choices he has made along the way. De Niro is simply a master of his craft, with the ability to make his characters so real that a performance like this one is often overlooked; this is Oscar worthy work for which he never received the acclaim he was due. His Renard is so like someone you would run into in your everyday life that in retrospect, it's scary. But it's the kind of performance we've come to expect from De Niro, and as usual, he does not disappoint.

Wesley Snipes, as well, gives a solid performance as Rayburn that is one of his best ever, which is not surprising when you consider with whom he was working. If you study De Niro's films, you may discover a common thread running through them with regard to his co-stars. De Niro has the ability to make those with whom he is working better; and it's something that stays with them forever after. Consider Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep before "The Deer Hunter," or Ed Harris before "Jacknife." Certainly they were exceptional talents before, but they have arguably been better since. And Snipes is no exception. Nor is Benicio Del Toro (Recipient of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for "Traffic"), who gives a memorable turn here as Rayburn's rival outfielder, Juan Primo.

The supporting cast includes Patti D'Arbanville (Ellen),Ellen Barkin (Jewel), John Leguizamo (Manny), Chris Mulkey (Tim), Dan Butler (Garrity) and Brandon Hammond (Sean). A thought provoking thriller that gives some real insight into the cause and effect of the psyche of human nature, "The Fan" is like an open wound that may hit too close to home for some. And to dismiss this as just a "baseball" movie or another "action" flick would be a mistake, for there is much more here than meets the eye. In the end, those who pay attention will ultimately reap the rewards it proffers.

If you want someone to play a psycho, who else but the immensely talented Robert DeNiro? In "The Fan," based on Peter Abraham's novel, De Niro plays Gil, a washed up knife salesman who is obsessed with baseball. He's divorced from his wife, but has been able to maintain a relationship with his young, impressionable son. However, as Gil becomes more psychotic, his ex-wife realizes the potential danger so she puts out a restraining order. Meanwhile, Wesley Snipes' Bobby Rayburn recently purchased by the Giants for a cool forty million wants his #11 back, which has been given to Benito Del Torio's Juan Primo. And then the slump hits Snipes. DeNiro displays his loyalty by trying to get Primo to surrender the number and when he refuses, well it's....you can imagine. Onward then, DeNiro finds a wonderful opportunity to get into Snipes life by rescuing his son, Sean, who is drowning. He and Snipes almost bond, until Snipes confesses that he just doesn't care anymore, baseball is just a game. Snap goes what little is left of DeNiro's sanity and we face a showdown in a rain-drenched night game.
Maybe overwrought, but Director Tony Scott handles everything so well, he elevates his film above it's derivative plot. Some of the baseball scenes are quite beautiful; Ellen Barkin and Patti D'arbinville shimmer in great supporting roles; John Lequizamo as Snipes' manager is good, and Charles Hallahan (so good in the remake of "The Thing") has a brief, but effective cameo as Coop, Gil's childhood buddy.
Hans Zimmer's score is hauntingly beautiful and there are nice effects from the many Rolling Stones tunes that fill the picture. San Francisco looks beautiful, and the whole effect is quite effective.
An underrated thriller, highly recommended.

With its frank depiction of drug use and its gritty down to earth feel, I enjoyed Traffic and expect to see director Steven Soderbergh walk away with an Oscar come Academy Award time.

There were 5 or 6 different story lines, a few of which came together at different points. One involved Michael Douglas as Robert Wakefield, an Ohio State Supreme Court Justice turned United States Drug Czar having to deal with not only the national and international drug problem, but with the fact that his 16 year old daughter was a drug addict. Another story line involved Benecio Del Toro as Tijuana police officer Javier Rodriguez caught between the corrupt Mexican police system, and his moral obligation to make Mexico drug free for future generations. Another story line had Catherine Zeta-Jones as Helena, an unsuspecting wife of a suspected drug dealer named Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer), having to cope with her husband being carted off to jail, and having her child threatened unless she pays off her husband's debts. Mixed into that story line were undercover DEA agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzman) who are trying to protect the chief witness again Carlos, while trying to get information against Helena.

What I really loved about Traffic was the documentary-style feel it had. Every location was shot differently, from the blown out yellow grittyness of Mexico, to the rich upper class color of Cincinnati. Along with the graphic depictions of drug use and the corruption of the Mexican military and police, it all had the feel of a real life drama, and not just a movie. All the acting performances were wonderful. Usually a great director can bring out great performances from his/her cast. It's no surprise that Julia Roberts from the Soderbergh-directed Erin Brockovich is a front runner in the Best Actress Oscar race, and Benecio Del Toro is a front runner in the Supporting Actor race. Standouts from this movie in my view include Zeta-Jones as a woman who is slowly transformed into the complete opposite of what she was by circumstances beyond her control. Don Cheadle, who is one of the best hidden talents in Hollywood, and is just one big role away from breaking through to mainstream. And the girl I thought had the toughest role in the movie, Erika Christensen as Caroline, the 16 year old drug addicted daughter of the new drug Czar. I think her performance deserves more recognition than it's gotten.

The feel of the movie is really what makes this film a cut above others. It doesn't pull any punches in its portrayal of what life is like for some people. We get to see the inner workings of a corrupt Mexican military, abusing its police power to steal the lucrative drug trade for itself. We see how even if a police officer is on the moral straight and narrow, he has to bend to the facts of life to survive on the streets. Back in America we see that even the drug Czar of the United States can have problems in his own life that are bigger than the country. And we see how a woman will go anywhere and do anything to protect her children and her family. Director Soderbergh has taken us inside the lives of these people without glossing it up Hollywood style.

Traffic is a hard hitting film that may be too much for some people. The scenes of drug use are hard to deal with at times. Seeing what a 16 year old girl will do just to get a fix is troubling. The only part of the film I guess I didn't believe(?) was watching the drug Czar comb the streets looking for his daughter, instead of calling out the National Guard or something to track her down. I understand he had his reasons, wanting to keep the whole situation quiet and away from the press, but it still seemed odd that a person in his position would be willing to wander the streets looking for her. The other problem I had was that some of the story lines and people got confusing to me, and made parts of the movie hard to follow. Luckily most of it all came together near the end.

Overall I enjoyed Traffic and I would recommend it to people looking to get out of the Hollywood-style movie scene we're all used to seeing.

I had went to theaters to see this movie. (Mainly because the previews said it was a knockout, brilliant, and in every critics top 10 list). I was a little skeptical at first, but once it starts it pulls you in. From begining to end, this film lacks nothing.

Whether you like it for the acting, (Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Torro, or Michael Douglas all do superb, along with most others), whether you like it for the cinematography, (I'm not sure who did it, but watch for the color difference between Washington, DC (Michael Douglas' scenes), Mexico (Benicio Del Torro's scenes), or San Diego (where a bunch of rich kids live), you will be amazed.

Another thing is the rock solid story line with snappy dialouge. And not to mention the allstar cast of Benicio Del Torro, (The "Good" Cop), Michael Douglas (Head of the DEA), Catherine Zeta-Jones (A Rich, Pampered, Housewife), Dennis Quaid (The Crooked Lawyer), Don Cheadle (Undercover Cop), along with numerous cameos from Selma Hayek, ect.

This film can not be beat. With A+ acting, story, and without a doubt the BEST cinematography ever! You cant afford to miss TRAFFIC.

Not this film is a 2 1/2 hr long drama, which needs to be viewed in FULL. I know of quite a few people who quit watching it half-way through. You will ruin one of the greatest movie experiences ever if you do this. No Joke!

Winner of 5 Academy Awards including: Best Supporting Actor (Del Torro), Best Director (Steven Soderbergh), Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Cinematography!

This is a movie with starpower and sustance, but it commits the same mistakes with consistency troughout the movie. If you can look beyond them, great, some of us can't.
mistake 1: the only cast member that does not produce the spanish language with a thick american accent was Salma Hayek. Everyone else, From Del Toro to the little characters is a Culprit of mangling the language into an East L.A. version of it.
mistake 2: All scenes in cars in the Mexico side have all the actors "buckled up" when in Mexico there is no bucke up law, In fact buckling up is considered for sissies by the macho military/policial culture.
Thoper Grace's performance was a surprise, the kid did break out of his tv personna.

With its frank depiction of drug use and its gritty down to earth feel, I enjoyed Traffic and expect to see director Steven Soderbergh walk away with an Oscar come Academy Award time.

There were 5 or 6 different story lines, a few of which came together at different points. One involved Michael Douglas as Robert Wakefield, an Ohio State Supreme Court Justice turned United States Drug Czar having to deal with not only the national and international drug problem, but with the fact that his 16 year old daughter was a drug addict. Another story line involved Benecio Del Toro as Tijuana police officer Javier Rodriguez caught between the corrupt Mexican police system, and his moral obligation to make Mexico drug free for future generations. Another story line had Catherine Zeta-Jones as Helena, an unsuspecting wife of a suspected drug dealer named Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer), having to cope with her husband being carted off to jail, and having her child threatened unless she pays off her husband's debts. Mixed into that story line were undercover DEA agents Montel Gordon (Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Luis Guzman) who are trying to protect the chief witness again Carlos, while trying to get information against Helena.

What I really loved about Traffic was the documentary-style feel it had. Every location was shot differently, from the blown out yellow grittyness of Mexico, to the rich upper class color of Cincinnati. Along with the graphic depictions of drug use and the corruption of the Mexican military and police, it all had the feel of a real life drama, and not just a movie. All the acting performances were wonderful. Usually a great director can bring out great performances from his/her cast. It's no surprise that Julia Roberts from the Soderbergh-directed Erin Brockovich is a front runner in the Best Actress Oscar race, and Benecio Del Toro is a front runner in the Supporting Actor race. Standouts from this movie in my view include Zeta-Jones as a woman who is slowly transformed into the complete opposite of what she was by circumstances beyond her control. Don Cheadle, who is one of the best hidden talents in Hollywood, and is just one big role away from breaking through to mainstream. And the girl I thought had the toughest role in the movie, Erika Christensen as Caroline, the 16 year old drug addicted daughter of the new drug Czar. I think her performance deserves more recognition than it's gotten.

The feel of the movie is really what makes this film a cut above others. It doesn't pull any punches in its portrayal of what life is like for some people. We get to see the inner workings of a corrupt Mexican military, abusing its police power to steal the lucrative drug trade for itself. We see how even if a police officer is on the moral straight and narrow, he has to bend to the facts of life to survive on the streets. Back in America we see that even the drug Czar of the United States can have problems in his own life that are bigger than the country. And we see how a woman will go anywhere and do anything to protect her children and her family. Director Soderbergh has taken us inside the lives of these people without glossing it up Hollywood style.

Traffic is a hard hitting film that may be too much for some people. The scenes of drug use are hard to deal with at times. Seeing what a 16 year old girl will do just to get a fix is troubling. The only part of the film I guess I didn't believe(?) was watching the drug Czar comb the streets looking for his daughter, instead of calling out the National Guard or something to track her down. I understand he had his reasons, wanting to keep the whole situation quiet and away from the press, but it still seemed odd that a person in his position would be willing to wander the streets looking for her. The other problem I had was that some of the story lines and people got confusing to me, and made parts of the movie hard to follow. Luckily most of it all came together near the end.

Overall I enjoyed Traffic and I would recommend it to people looking to get out of the Hollywood-style movie scene we're all used to seeing.

I had went to theaters to see this movie. (Mainly because the previews said it was a knockout, brilliant, and in every critics top 10 list). I was a little skeptical at first, but once it starts it pulls you in. From begining to end, this film lacks nothing.

Whether you like it for the acting, (Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Torro, or Michael Douglas all do superb, along with most others), whether you like it for the cinematography, (I'm not sure who did it, but watch for the color difference between Washington, DC (Michael Douglas' scenes), Mexico (Benicio Del Torro's scenes), or San Diego (where a bunch of rich kids live), you will be amazed.

Another thing is the rock solid story line with snappy dialouge. And not to mention the allstar cast of Benicio Del Torro, (The "Good" Cop), Michael Douglas (Head of the DEA), Catherine Zeta-Jones (A Rich, Pampered, Housewife), Dennis Quaid (The Crooked Lawyer), Don Cheadle (Undercover Cop), along with numerous cameos from Selma Hayek, ect.

This film can not be beat. With A+ acting, story, and without a doubt the BEST cinematography ever! You cant afford to miss TRAFFIC.

Not this film is a 2 1/2 hr long drama, which needs to be viewed in FULL. I know of quite a few people who quit watching it half-way through. You will ruin one of the greatest movie experiences ever if you do this. No Joke!

Winner of 5 Academy Awards including: Best Supporting Actor (Del Torro), Best Director (Steven Soderbergh), Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Cinematography!

This is a movie with starpower and sustance, but it commits the same mistakes with consistency troughout the movie. If you can look beyond them, great, some of us can't.
mistake 1: the only cast member that does not produce the spanish language with a thick american accent was Salma Hayek. Everyone else, From Del Toro to the little characters is a Culprit of mangling the language into an East L.A. version of it.
mistake 2: All scenes in cars in the Mexico side have all the actors "buckled up" when in Mexico there is no bucke up law, In fact buckling up is considered for sissies by the macho military/policial culture.
Thoper Grace's performance was a surprise, the kid did break out of his tv personna.

"Excess Baggage" is the type of movie that failed at the box office due to poor marketing. With the combination of Alicia Silverstone in a lead role and a trailer suggesting that this was mostly a comedy, I think a lot of people went into this flick with a wrong impression. I know I did. The first time I saw it I was rather disappointed. There was nothing inherently wrong with any performance or any facet of the movie itself. I think it was more that it wasn't what I expected. Luckily, I decided to let some time pass and view it again. I'm very glad I did because this is actually a solid movie. The role of the bratty rich kid was, of course, perfect for Alicia and she didn't have to stretch much to properly play the part. Benicio Del Toro was simply amazing! His mannerisms for his character are something you simply can't be taught. Del Toro is the real deal and you can't help but fall for his charm...even if he is playing a car thief. It goes without saying that Christopher Walken is flawless as usual. The guy's been around forever because he is one of the best acting talents in Hollywood. The story certainly has some amusing moments and situations. However, this is a story that's actually about love, loyalty and knowing your place in the world. By all appearances, Alicia Silverstone and Benicio Del Toro would make quite the unconvincing couple. As the movie progresses, however, you are truly moved by the bond that they form. "Excess Baggage" is a very special film that deserves an open mind and a keen eye for amazing acting and appreciation of a multi-layered storyline filled with deep moments.

Indeed, Leonard Maltin does need new glasses, maybe even a new job, because he is totally unqualified as a film critic if he didn't like this movie. Maybe he has something against Alicia Silverstone, but she isn't the reason to see Excess Baggage anyway, although she does a respectable job. The real stars here are Benicio Del Toro and (surprise?) Christopher Walken, who each give outstanding performances. Del Toro steals the show, portraying a shy, soft-spoken and gentle-natured car thief who gets entangled in Silverstone's world by stealing her expensive BMW (with her in the trunk). She's trying to get the attention of her rich and distant father by faking a kidnapping, and Del Toro spends the rest of the movie with her in tow and on the run, trying to reclaim his upended life without getting caught by the mob, due to a broken deal, or iced by her Uncle Ray, a very dangerous, a very cool cat who can kill in a blink, but one who cares for Silverstone as only an uncle should. We come to care for these two men even more than the girl who has brought them together, although the relationship that develops between Del Toro and Silverstone rings sweet and true. Particularly touching is their scene by the lake after they have spent the night together at a remote alpine lodge. They are almost inaudible as they share their thoughts, seemingly childlike in response to the feelings that have developed, but we truly feel the love that is there as Dave Matthews' beautiful song "Crash" plays beneath their words. And there are many other genuine moments. Excess Baggage is filled with an interesting tension and pacing that is uncommon to romantic comedies and thus a treat. More typical is the ending, where all works out for the best, but it is satisfying nevertheless.

hold on to your hearts as car thief Del Toro foils Silverstone's"kidnapping" and ends up with more than he bargained for in this sweetheart of a movie!

Contrary to the product description above, this dvd is NOT, NOT, NOT widescreen!!! It is only fullscreen, which is not how I want to see movies.
And of course I can't get a refund, since I didn't discover this little nugget of info until I opened and played the thing! Thanks a lot to whoever wrote this misleading, false product description, and thanks to an unfair return policy that makes the customer pay for the retailer's lies or mistakes. I'm taking my money elsewhere!!!!

Excess Baggage remains to be one of the sloppiest movies I have ever seen. The characters feel incomplete; their dialogue sparse and meaningless, making it look like it was rushed into production before they really had time to develop a script and a real purpose for it. This movie failed to give a message, touch any emotional nerves, or be entertaining in any shape or fasion...

hold on to your hearts as car thief Del Toro foils Silverstone's"kidnapping" and ends up with more than he bargained for in this sweetheart of a movie!

"Excess Baggage" is the type of movie that failed at the box office due to poor marketing. With the combination of Alicia Silverstone in a lead role and a trailer suggesting that this was mostly a comedy, I think a lot of people went into this flick with a wrong impression. I know I did. The first time I saw it I was rather disappointed. There was nothing inherently wrong with any performance or any facet of the movie itself. I think it was more that it wasn't what I expected. Luckily, I decided to let some time pass and view it again. I'm very glad I did because this is actually a solid movie. The role of the bratty rich kid was, of course, perfect for Alicia and she didn't have to stretch much to properly play the part. Benicio Del Toro was simply amazing! His mannerisms for his character are something you simply can't be taught. Del Toro is the real deal and you can't help but fall for his charm...even if he is playing a car thief. It goes without saying that Christopher Walken is flawless as usual. The guy's been around forever because he is one of the best acting talents in Hollywood. The story certainly has some amusing moments and situations. However, this is a story that's actually about love, loyalty and knowing your place in the world. By all appearances, Alicia Silverstone and Benicio Del Toro would make quite the unconvincing couple. As the movie progresses, however, you are truly moved by the bond that they form. "Excess Baggage" is a very special film that deserves an open mind and a keen eye for amazing acting and appreciation of a multi-layered storyline filled with deep moments.

Indeed, Leonard Maltin does need new glasses, maybe even a new job, because he is totally unqualified as a film critic if he didn't like this movie. Maybe he has something against Alicia Silverstone, but she isn't the reason to see Excess Baggage anyway, although she does a respectable job. The real stars here are Benicio Del Toro and (surprise?) Christopher Walken, who each give outstanding performances. Del Toro steals the show, portraying a shy, soft-spoken and gentle-natured car thief who gets entangled in Silverstone's world by stealing her expensive BMW (with her in the trunk). She's trying to get the attention of her rich and distant father by faking a kidnapping, and Del Toro spends the rest of the movie with her in tow and on the run, trying to reclaim his upended life without getting caught by the mob, due to a broken deal, or iced by her Uncle Ray, a very dangerous, a very cool cat who can kill in a blink, but one who cares for Silverstone as only an uncle should. We come to care for these two men even more than the girl who has brought them together, although the relationship that develops between Del Toro and Silverstone rings sweet and true. Particularly touching is their scene by the lake after they have spent the night together at a remote alpine lodge. They are almost inaudible as they share their thoughts, seemingly childlike in response to the feelings that have developed, but we truly feel the love that is there as Dave Matthews' beautiful song "Crash" plays beneath their words. And there are many other genuine moments. Excess Baggage is filled with an interesting tension and pacing that is uncommon to romantic comedies and thus a treat. More typical is the ending, where all works out for the best, but it is satisfying nevertheless.

hold on to your hearts as car thief Del Toro foils Silverstone's"kidnapping" and ends up with more than he bargained for in this sweetheart of a movie!

The 1994 original movie "The Cold Light of Day" is significantly better than Sean Penn's interpretation. I knew "The Pledge" was a bomb when a couple of viewers in different parts of the theater remarked on how lousy it was. The film left the Houston area about one week later headed for box office oblivion. Sean Penn made a horrible mistake in in keeping secret the identity of the sex deviate. This was frustrating to say the least and made the rest of the film seem pointless. Jack Nicholson did a good job as the alcoholic retired detective who pledges to a mother that he will find the killer of her daughter. However, Penn has Nicholson play the role of Jerry Black in such a manner as to suggest that the police officer committed himself to the case not so much as to solve it, but because the man has nothing better to do. Nicholson's character comes across as an existentially challenged individual who needs to find a purpose to make his life worth living. The murdered girl is merely an excuse to justifying getting up in the morning.

Penn's real life wife Robin Wright Penn is very convincing as the mother who accepts the generosity of the much older retired officer. Initially she seeks only a relationship which will secure a loving home for the young girl. A sort of romance soon develops between the two adults which seems only to bewilder and overwhelm the man. Wasn't the recent Academy Award winner Benico Del Toro, you might ask, also in the movie? Del Toro merely has about a five minute part indulging in histrionic mannerisms as a mentally retarded man falsely suspected of a vile crime. Penn essentially wasted this great actor's enormous talent. The other actors do little to balance out the deficiencies of Penn's directing.

I can give "The Pledge" only two stars. Only the true fans of Jack Nicholson will find it worth viewing. The previously mentioned "The Cold Light of Day," though, is highly recommended (four stars) as a something of a hidden gem. Rudolf Van Den Berg aptly directs this virtually unknown movie in an intelligent and exciting manner. The audience actually gets to understanding the sick motivations of the child killer. Van Berg's direction is not pretentious, and he accomplishes a lot with almost certainly a smaller budget. Sean Penn should seek instruction and guidance from Van Berg before he attempts another film.

Anyone expecting to find a formulaic cops-chase-killers movie should immediately move on to the latest Hollywood idiot fodder flick. "The Pledge" is intelligent, thought-provoking, well-directed, well-acted, and a feast for the senses.
I know many people who felt let down by this film, possibly because they expected the usual chase and hero's triumph at the end, which does not happen here. I found myself to be curious and somehow astonished by the end, and anxious to see it again.
Jack Nicholson gives one of his best latter-day performances here, and touches on areas which are not normally "Jack". By the end of the film, he is stunned and totally confused; knowing he was somehow right, though strange twists of fate conspire against him. It's almost Hitchcock territory; the man wrongly accused, or the man who knows all the facts, and yet no one believes him.
Sean Penn is no clown director; he's not making mass-market cheap thrill flicks here. He lets the story develop with a total absence of Hollywood cliches and setups. By the end, though most people will feel somehow cheated out of a visceral release, I feel viewers with an open mind who don't expect their movies to be served up like fast-food will be quite pleased. It's one of those movies you can talk about all night long.

This *is* a very different movie in the cop vs. serial killer genre. If you want a formula movie with a formula 3rd Act (plot twists that lead to ultimate victory), then look elsewhere.

Sean Penn has created a movie that starts routine, with a rich character study by Jack Nicholson, as the almost-retired Reno Detective Jerry Black. Jack Nicholson as a world-weary retiree is a joy to behold -- as he gazes on old photos of himself (clever cut-and-pastes using the young Jack Nicholson we know, placed in photos ... him with his Vietnam buddies, him getting a police medal), we see the evolution of Jack Nicholson, who puts his all into the very wise and flawed Detective Black.

Starting with a formula idea, -- that the conventional wisdom of who-did-it is wrong, --- and that even in retirement, Det. Black is continuing the hunt for the real killer, -- the film leads you down a conventional path and then jumps the track in Act 3, becoming a study in how things derail in real life, and how in real life tidy storybook endings may be the exception.

The ending is a dark and disquieting one, satisfying only in that the killer is stopped (although by an unexpected means). It *is* worth discussing the specifics of the ending, so if you don't want the ending spoiled for you, READ NO FURTHER.

Det. Black discovers that the killer goes after 7 year old blonde girls wearing red dresses. The killer's m.o. is that he first establishes a relationship with the victim (as a magical "Wizard"), and gives them little gifts, and gains their confidence over time, and then finally ritualistically sexually assaulting them and butchering them. The killer is tall and drives a dark station wagon.

Det. Black, a fisherman, foregoes buying a lakeside cabin, and instead buys a gas station (to track local vehicles, and tall guys). By happenstance, he takes in a battered wife and her 7 year old blonde girl. Without letting them in on his plans, he sets up a swing-set at roadside for the girl to play on (to attract the killer), and says nothing when the girl picks out a red dress at a clothing store. Without the mothers' consent, he thus sets up the girl as bait. By luck, the killer makes contact (the girl announces to Black, chillingly, "I've met the Wizard"), and sets up a meeting with the girl at a local park. Black then convinces his Reno swat team buddies to set up a surveillance, and they all wait for the killer to show.

Right here, the off-beat ending starts: The killer, unbeknownst to all, has a head-on collision on the highway, on the way to the park, and is dead. The swat team leaves, in disgust, believing that Black has led them on an insane goose chase. The girl's mother show up and breaks off her relationship with Black, rightly accusing him of manipulating her and her daughter into being unknowing bait. Black descends into an alcoholic insanity, and the ending shows him jabbering incoherently at the sky, his life in ruins.

So this ending is way unsatisfying for formula viewers -- if I was at the movies and wanted to feel good upon departure, I'd feel cheated. However, the acting throughout is superb, and is the movie's salvation:

Patricia Clarkson is intense as the mother of the first dead girl who extracts Jack's/Black's pledge to find the killer. Mickey Rourke is intense as a dead girl's father who fully explains the intensity with which he misses his dead daughter. Aaron Eckhart plays Det. Stan Krolak (Black's last partner) with a beautiful intensity. Eckhart has a gift for playing intense and not-so-bright characters (he was great as sleezy Del Sizemore in Nurse Betty), and his finger countdown from "3", boasting how fast he will extract a confession from a "slow" Indian (B. Del Toro), is a classic moment of bravado.

So even though the script trashes a feel good ending, the acting is wonderful, -- on balance, this is a great film (buy it!), but if (especially after 9-11-01) you want a feel-good ending, you will be let down.

The other let down is that the DVD is minimal -- no special features other than the trailer (I would have loved to hear a director's commentary with Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson) -- but the tranfer to DVD is crisp, both video and audio quality is excellent.