Synopses & Reviews
In the acclaimed Newmarket Shooting Script series format comes the complete Oscar-winning script by Stephen Gaghan (
Rules of Engagement) of the new film directed by Steven Soderbergh (
Out of Sight), a contemporary thriller set in the world of drug trafficking, starring an ensemble cast that includes Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro (who won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for this role), Albert Finney, Luis Guzman, Dennis Quaid, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
From a border policeman in Mexico caught in a web of corruption, to the conservative judge appointed by the President as the new anti-drug czar, to undercover DEA agents fighting a drug cartel, to the wife of a drug baron and the judge's drug-addicted teenage daughter, Traffic evokes the high stakes and high risks of the drug trade, as seen through a series of interrelated stories, some of which are highly personal and some of which are filled with intrigue and danger.
The book includes the complete shooting script, an introduction by director Steven Soderbergh (who won the Best Director Oscar for this film) and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, movie stills, and complete credits.
Review
"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. Like Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas, Traffic is fascinating at one level simply because it shows how things work -- how the drugs are marketed, how the laws are sidestepped.... The movie is powerful precisely because it doesn't preach." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Review
"Steven Soderbergh hits a new high... Traffic is unlike any film Soderbergh has made before... The movie has a truly exhilarating gift for social observation. A classic American-issues movie, in the tradition of Gentleman's Agreement or Bad Day at Black Rock. Interweaving three tales of people on either side -- and in some cases, both sides -- of the narcotics trade, the film catches you up with an ever-tightening narrative mesh... An achievement." -- Karen Durbin, Elle
Synopsis
Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Director (Steven Soderburgh), Best Supporting Actor (Benicio Del Toro), Adapted Screenplay, and Editing. Winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.
In the Newmarket Shooting Script(R) format, the only tie-in to the new film by Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Out of Sight), a contemporary thriller set in the world of drug trafficking starring an ensemble cast that includes Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Albert Finney, and Don Cheadle--from USA Films.
From a border policeman in Mexico caught in a web of corruption, to the conservative judge appointed by the President as the new anti-drug czar, to undercover DEA agents fighting a drug cartel, to the wife of a drug baron and the judge's drug-addicted teenage daughter, Traffic evokes the high stakes and high risks of the drug trade, as seen through a series of interrelated stories, some of which are highly personal and some of which are filled with intrigue and danger.
The Newmarket book includes the complete shooting script, an introduction in the form of a conversation between Steven Soderbergh and Stephen Gaghan written especially for this edition, 30 b/w film stills, and the complete credits.
About the Author
Stephen Gaghan wrote the screenplay for
Rules of Engagement and teleplays for TV's
The Practice,
American Gothic, and
NYPD Blue, for which he won the 1997 Emmy for Best Dramatic Writing. His short fiction has appeared in
The Iowa Review. He lives in Los Angeles.
Steven Soderbergh also directed Eric Brockovich, Out of Sight, Gray's Anatomy, The Limey, Schizopolis, The Underneath, King of the Hill, Kafka, and Sex, Lies, and Videotape for which he won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Soderbergh's Out of Sight received Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.