Traffic
Metascore
86 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 34 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 34
  3. Negative: 0 out of 34
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Soderbergh's story, from a screenplay by Stephen Gaghan, cuts between these characters so smoothly that even a fairly complex scenario remains clear and charged with tension.
  2. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    100
    It's a thriller that really thrills, a drama that really engages, a portrait of a world and system out of joint that is painfully convincing and totally engrossing from the first simmering minute to the last explosive second.
  3. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    100
    Borderline brilliant. Tackles the war on drugs from a kaleidoscope of perspectives.
  4. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    100
    A flat-out electrifying experience.
  5. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    100
    Explosive entertainment, with the tension and volatility of its subject matter.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    100
    The rare Hollywood epic that dares to entertain an audience by engaging the world.
  7. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    100
    A stunning film.
  8. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    100
    There's not a smarter, more demanding American film from the past year.
  9. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Jeff Stark
    100
    In the scorching new film Traffic, director Steven Soderbergh captures the hypocrisy -- and tragedy -- of the nation's unwinnable war on drugs. Traffic is a huge, determined movie in every way.
  10. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    100
    It is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking, a beautiful and brutal work.
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    100
    Enormously ambitious and masterfully made, Traffic represents docudrama-style storytelling at a very high level.
  12. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Kevin Maynard
    94
    Traffic is a riveting, semi-documentary drama, and yet calling it that is a disservice to just how suspenseful and stylish an entertainment it is.
  13. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    90
    His (Soderbergh's) work has taken on echoes of a classier, bygone age of cinema, at once more literate and lighthearted.
  14. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    90
    Traffic is not just an ultra-procedural--it's the Big Picture, the Whole Enchilada, complete with a complicated war between two Mexican drug cartels.
  15. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Robert Horton
    90
    Movie excitement from beginning to end.
  16. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    90
    One of the things that makes Traffic so very good is the wry humor that's laced throughout the film. It's a funny movie.
  17. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    90
    May be the first Hollywood movie since Robert Altman's "Nashville" to infuse epic cinematic form with jittery new rhythms and a fresh, acid- washed palette.
  18. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    90
    Traffic doesn’t quite come to a full emotional boil at the end. Soderbergh is too knowing to offer easy solutions. But what a journey it takes us on: disturbing, exciting, completely absorbing.
  19. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    90
    Sinfully watchable ensemble movie.
  20. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    89
    It's a thrilling, powerful movie, and one that certain people in certain quarters may have at one time called dangerous. Some of them may yet still.
  21. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Foreman
    88
    Atriumph on almost every level. It is breathtakingly stylish, wonderfully acted and its three interrelated tales of the "war" on drugs are brilliantly structured to form a cohesive, powerful whole.
  22. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    88
    It's the best drug-busting movie since ''The French Connection.''
  23. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    88
    It's every bit as thrilling and engrossing as the best spy thriller or cop flick.
  24. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    88
    He's (Soderbergh) among the few directors working today who makes me wonder what he'll do next - and draws me into the movie house, whatever it may be.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 90 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 28
  3. Negative: 3 out of 28
  1. Connor_Monteith
    10
    A true thriller at it's best. This is a film charged with tension, drama, and suspense. Not to mention the truly inspiring and detailed story it delivers. Overall a great screenplay that manages to swiftly switch between different scenarios and keep every story engaging, as well as easy to follow. Not to be missed.… Full Review »
  2. BryceHoogland
    10
    Steven Soderbergh, the master of narrative, creates a drug, crime film the way one should be made. What
  3. KevinL.
    10
    "Brilliant" As much as there are many of its kind out there, the writers continue to make this film as entertaining and masterful. This film just creates so much tension and absorbs the viewers in.… Full Review »
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