Traffic (2000)
This movie about the war on drugs ultimately comes to the conclusion that you can’t stop addiction with guns and battering rams and prosecutions: You need to cut off demand, which means treating addicts as human beings, and figuring out how to treat their addictions.
The most dramatic moments come from Don Cheadle, Michael Douglas and Benicio del Toro trying to bust drug cartels, but at its heart are the scenes about Caroline Wakefield (Erika Christensen, pictured), the daughter of Douglas’ crusading anti-drug czar, who becomes addicted to drugs herself. She finds a way out through 12-step meetings and the love of her parents.
“If there is a war on drugs, then many of our family members are the enemy,” Wakefield says. “And I don’t know how you wage war on your own family.”
The film was written by Stephen Gaghan, who drew on his own experiences with addiction and getting sober. It’s based on the also excellent British TV series Traffik.
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