Steven Soderbergh's Traffic is an unparalleled masterpiece. It tells three interlocked stories that, when taken together, portray a remarkably complete picture of the drug world. One story centers around the growth and smuggling of drugs from Mexico into the United States; another is about drug dealers and distributors; a third is about abusers and addicts. One of the things I liked most about the film is how it manages to be so insightful about the big picture while telling stories that could function autonomously, on their own merit, rather than stories that are generalized illustrations that would serve no useful purpose by themselves. Each of the characters in Traffic is indeed an individual rather than a stereotype, yet the film conveys the sense of the big picture nonetheless.

Furthermore, the acting, editing, and cinematography are about as good as they get; Traffic won numerous Academy Awards, including Best Editing and, for co-star Benecio del Toro, Best Supporting Actor. Even before this movie, Soderbergh was an accomplished filmmaker with an impressive filmography, but Traffic is unquestionably his best, most important, and most compelling work to date.