“You know, when Khruschev was forced out, he sat down and wrote two letters and gave them to his successor. He said – “When you get yourself into a situation you can’t get out of, open the first letter, and you’ll be safe. When you get yourself into another situation you can’t get out of, open the second letter”. Well, soon enough, this guy found himself into a tight place, so he opened the first letter. Which said – “Blame everything on me”. So he blames the old man, it worked like a charm. He got himself into a second situation he couldn’t get out of, he opened the second letter. It said – “Sit down, and write two letters”.” – General Ralph Landry
Number of Times Seen – At least 3 times (17 Jan 2001, 5 Mar 2017 and 12 Apr 2024)
Link to original review – Here
Brief Synopsis – A look at the drug trade in the US from various standpoints along the chain of the system.
My Take on it – Interesting premise that spreads itself a bit too thin at points, yet still is very effective in doing what it sets out to do. The film has numerous storylines taking place simultaneously and the slightly varied color schemes help differential between them. The story has an all star cast led by Michael Douglas and Don Cheadle who all give great performances up and down the ladder. The biggest standout is Benicio Del Toro who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in this film. Steven Soderbergh deservingly won the Oscar for Best Director, but failed to win Best Picture in such a jam packed year with powerful films. The movie works very well in showing some of the important stops along the way of trying to stop the drug trade, but still is far from giving a realistic solution to a problem that still rages on. The stories are quite thrilling and suspenseful because so much is constantly happening.
Highly Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – When a critic commented that it seemed unrealistic that the daughter’s high school record was almost perfect when she was taking drugs, screenwriter Stephen Gaghan pointed out that the high school record in the movie was his and that he had been abusing drugs at the time. (From IMDB)
Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10) (no change from original review)
______________________________________
Check out my *updated* movie stats here
To see my reviews of Oscar Winning Performances check out this link
To see my reviews of all Oscar Best Picture Winners click here (now complete)
Here is a link to my movie index A-Z
MovieRob 