(rated R, 139 mins.)
Green-light this one! Powerfully real depiction of life in the big picture of drug trafficking. Where down the line does it end? Where down the line does it begin? Three stories intercut at different levels of the law, as we open with a sting operation shown in fuzzy, yellow, film, of the Mexican underworld where the drugs originate. Cut to sting operations by undercover DEA agents (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman), with Michael Douglas as the U.S. President’s new anti-drug czar. Cut to rich suburban kids exploring a total drug fest from cocaine to free basing. Cut to a pregnant, socialite mom (Catherine Zeta Jones) whose biggest dilemma is lunch dates at the country club. When her husband is arrested for drug trafficking, all hell breaks loose and the three stories meld. Things go along as normal for Douglas at a Georgetown cocktail party where the town’s elite offer opinions over martinis on drugs and laws. But, when the two worlds collide reality goes haywire as Douglas with his wife (Amy Irving) discover what’s going on right under their own noses (no pun intended). The scenes are intense, the narcotic seizures are well executed and the outcome of squelching the Tijuana cartel will surprise you. And, if that’s not enough of a sell, the casting is the perfect marriage of star to each and every role.
