MOVIE CLIPS | VIDEO RELEASES | THEATER INFO Drugs and Greed Everyone who can be corrupted will be. By Lois Wadsworth Traffic: Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Written by Stephen Gaghan, based on "Traffik," created by Simon Moore for Channel 4 Television, U. K. Produced by Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Laura Bickford. Executive producers: Richard Solomon, Mike Newell, Cameron Jones, Graham King and Andreas Klein. Cinematographer, Peter Andrews (aka Steven Soderbergh). Production design, Philip Messina. Art direction, Keith P. Cunningham. Set decorator, Kristen Toscano Messina. Editor, Stephen Mirrione. Costumes, Louise Frogley. Music, Cliff Martinez. Starring Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Luis Guzman, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Steven Bauer and Erika Christensen. With Clifton Collins Jr., Miguel Ferrer, Topher Grace, Amy Irving, Tomas Millian, Marisol Padilla Sanchez and Jacob Vargas. USA Films Release, 2000. R. 147 minutes.   Mexican policeman Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) attempts to straighten out his patrol partner and childhood friend, Manolo (Jacob Vargas). .   It's hard to imagine any other working American filmmaker who could have made this film but Steven Soderbergh. By now Soderbergh has shown that he can work in any genre he chooses -- he calls this one a policier -- and treat any subject he selects with the technical skill and creative art expected only from a very few film masters. Shot by the director himself, Traffic is more than the sum of its parts. The four stories that make up the film's narrative move from an orange-yellow dominated Tiajuana desert outback to the cool blue seats of power in Washington, D.C., and from the mansion of a San Diego drug lord to the filthy torture chamber of a ruthless Mexican general. The drug cartels generate unimaginable wealth, and it's not only those addicted to cocaine and heroin who are its victims. Greed blooms in the presence of so much money, and only a few among us are incorruptible. Traffic hits home with the immediacy of your morning headlines, yet it's also the oldest story ever told. For all of its recorded history, the human race has discovered ways to alter reality -- from the fermentation of grains to the curing of tobacco to today's mass-market, legal pharmacopoeia. Substances as relatively benign as coffee and as medically helpful as morphine take their places on a continuum that includes rave designer drugs such as Ecstasy as well as crack cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Soderbergh illuminates the range of chemical dependencies of the film's characters. There's the Scotch that new drug czar Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) drinks to unwind and ameliorate his domestic boredom; the beer Mexican policeman Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro) quaffs in San Diego when he's ensnaring a notorious, dangerous assassin; the two glasses of red wine pregnant Helena Ayala (Catherine Zeta-Jones) sips with her lunching girlfriends just before her husband, Carlos (Steven Bauer), gets hauled in for being a drug kingpin; the free-based cocaine that gives great pleasure to teenager Caroline Wakefield (Erika Christensen) the first time she uses. Changing nature's bounty into highly addictive substances wasn't figured out just yesterday, but the scale of today's drug trafficking and the ubiquity of substances to abuse simply boggles the mind. Worst of all, everybody knows that the interdiction programs the U.S. spends an ocean of money on aren't working. Soderbergh's film is powerful and wholly unsentimental. Unlike Darren Aronofsky's brutal Requiem for a Dream, this film is not bleak and hopeless. The difference, I think, is that Aronofsky is fascinated by the evil of drug abuse, so that is what he explores. But Soderbergh shows that ordinary people caught in the drug web can find a way out: one character decides not to serve the drug cartel; another, an addict, stops using through group therapy. Traffic says it's not people who are to be blamed for drugs, but the utterly corrupt system itself. Soderbergh's direction is flawless. Stephen Gaghan's screenplay smoothly integrates the different stories without obvious artifice. Del Toro's performance is the best of the year. Douglas is also very good, and Christensen is pure gold. Zeta-Jones shows us the sobering face of desperation. As undercover DEA agents, Don Cheadle is all purpose and resolve, while his partner, the fabulous Luis Guzman, is dedication itself. The best film of the year (so far), Traffic is now playing at Cinemark 17 and Cinema World 8. Fun on Main Street Hollywood invades small town America. By Lois Wadsworth State and Main: Written and directed by David Mamet. Produced by Sarah Green. Executive produced by Alec Baldwin, Jon Cornick. Cinematographer, Oliver Stapleton. Production design, Gemma Jackson. Costumes, Susan Lyall. Editor, Barbara Tulliver. Music, Theodore Shapiro. Starring Alec Baldwin, Charles Durning, Clark Gregg, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Patti LuPone, William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Paymer, Rebecca Pidgeon and Julia Stiles. Fine Line Features, 2000. R. 106 minutes.   Collision course involves local pol (Clark Gregg), movie star (Alec Baldwin), state trooper and Hollywood producer (David Paymer). .   It's refreshing to have a really pointed satire like David Mamet's surprisingly hilarious State and Main land in town. A sendup of both a Hollywood film cast and crew and the people who live in a small town they invade, it's about the collision of lifestyles and the mutual blurring of morality that ensues. The movie laughs at what people will and won't do for money and shows that pampered stars, dictatorial producers and hypocritical directors are not the only ones who are twisted. There are plenty of locals whose venality is no less obvious. Here in Waterford there are no innocents. When the tuckered out film crew arrives in town a few days before shooting of The Old Mill begins, they take over the only hotel as their crisis center. Director Walt Price (William H. Macy) goes ballistic when he learns that the town's picturesque water wheel-driven mill burned down 40 years earlier. Change the script, he orders novice screenwriter Joe White (Philip Seymour Hoffman). But White's manual typewriter was lost when they had to 23-skidoo from the previous town because leading man, Bob Barrenger (Alec Baldwin) was caught with an underaged girl. Looking for a typewriter, White runs into bookstore owner Ann Black (Rebecca Pidgeon), who also directs the town's little theater and knows White's play, Anguish. Romance blooms. From these opening set-ups, you can see that Mamet is in fine form, drawing on his own experiences behind the camera for his seventh movie. When Barrenger arrives, Price tries to control the star and his dirty little hobby, but local teen Carla Taylor (Julia Stiles) has her own agenda. Star Claire Wellesley (Sarah Jessica Parker) refuses to film a nude scene that's in her contract unless she gets an additional $600,000, so shark-like producer Marty Rossen (David Paymer) arrives from Los Angeles to deal with her. Locally, the Mayor (Charles Durning) and his social climber wife, Sherry (Patti LuPone), invite the crew to dinner in their historic house, which Sherry immediately begins redecorating. Meanwhile, Ann's ex-fiancé and ambitious politician Doug MacKenzie (Clark Gregg) determines to squeeze every dime he can out of the film production. Fortune smiles when a film company van flips on Main Street at State. Barrenger is not hurt, and everyone closes rank, saying he was alone. But writer White was on the scene when the accident occurs, and he knows who was present. Biting the hand that feeds you gets big play on the big screen. Arguably the most acclaimed anti-Hollywood films is Robert Altman's The Player (1992) with its 65 celebrity cameos, but State and Main's darkness doesn't extend to murder. In spirit it's more like the outrageous Steve Buscemi 1994 sleeper, Living in Oblivion or Tim Burton's 1994 homage to schlock movies, Ed Wood. Because State and Main's story is told primarily from the writer's position in the production hierarchy, beleaguered writer White shares a tortured mediocrity with both the Coen brothers' Barton Fink (1991) and to the untalented playwright David Shayne (John Cusack) in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994). We get just enough of the flavor of The Old Mill to realize that this clunker isn't going to make anyone famous. Funny, biting and a sensational ensemble production, State and Main opens at the Bijou Friday, Jan. 12. Very highly recommended. OPENING OR RETURNING: Films open the Friday following date of EW publication unless otherwise noted. Antitrust: College graduate (Ryan Phillippe) lands dream job writing software for humongous computer company founded by his childhood idol and mentor (Tim Robbins). Lad learns lessons the hard way. Directed by Peter Howitt (Sliding Doors), film also stars Rachael Leigh Cook and Claire Forlani. PG-13. Movieland 6. Cinemark 17. Charlie's Angels: Elite private investigators Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore), and Alex (Lucy Liu) can handle anything on land, sea or air with up-to-the-minute martial arts skills, futuristic vehicles, high-tech tools and toys, and a raft of crafty disguises. Also stars Bill Murray. PG-13. Movies 12. Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (Brazil, 1978) Based on Jorge Amado's novel, Bruno Barreto's much loved film stars Sonia Braga as a widow who remarries but fantasizes the return of the her dead husband. Is he real or is she just imagining things? UO campus, Jan. 16, 121 Pacific Hall, 7 pm. Free. Double Take: It's Trading Places for the new century as NY investment banker (Orlando Jones) switches identities with a petty thief (Eddie Griffin) to get out of hot water but finds he's in even bigger trouble now. Written and directed by George Gallow. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6. Finding Forester: Gus Van Sant's latest film is written by fellow Portlander Mike Rich and stars Sean Connery as a reclusive novelist (think J.D. Salinger) who comes out of retirement to help a talented kid, played by 16-year old newcomer Robert Brown. With Anna Paquin and Busta Rhymes. Van Sant calls the film "the evil twin of Good Will Hunting." PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Force More Powerful, A: This two-part PBS documentary about successful nonviolent campaigns across the world is shown in honor of Martin Luther King. Part I shows Jan. 15, with Part II Jan 16. The Wesley Center, 1236 Kincaid, 7 pm. Free. Legend of Bagger Vance, The: A down-and-out former golf star (Matt Damon) finds the girl of his dreams, again, (Charlize Theron). A guardian-angel (Will Patton) helps him remember his former glory. Directed by Robert Redford. PG. Movies 12. O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Ethan and Joel Coen's latest film takes its name from the director in Preston Sturges great Depression-era comedy, Sullivan's Travels. This Odyssey stars George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson as chain-gang escapees in Mississippi, and the whole thing is a musical of sorts. Also with John Goodman. PG-13. Cinema World 8. Pay It Forward: Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) star in this drama about a boy whose class project turns into phenomenon taken up by lots of people. Directed by Mimi Leder. PG-13. Movies 12. Quills: Geoffrey Rush plays the 18th century novelist Marquis de Sade in his later years, writing like a fiend in Charenton Asylum for the insane. Kate Winslet plays the laundress who smuggles his erotic work out to the world. Michael Caine plays the doctor who wants to cure him, whether he wants it or not. Directed by Phillip Kaufman (The Unforgettable Lightness of Being, The Right Stuff). R. Bijou. Save the Last Dance for Me: Looking for the same audience as last years Center Stage. Talented white girl from small town (Julia Stiles) enrolls in an inner city high school in New York where she falls for a popularAfrican American boy (Sean Patrick Thomas) who also loves to dance. But things get cloudy when she has a chance to dance ballet because he loves to dance to hip-hop. PG-13. Cinema World 8. Cinemark 17. State and Main: David Mamet comedy set in a New England town taken over by a film production crew and stars. Culture clash doesn't even begin to explain what happens. Great ensemble cast includes William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker. R. Very highly recommended. Bijou. See review this issue. Thirteen Days: Political thriller directed by Roger Donaldson is set during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when JFK and brother Robert had to scramble to avert Armageddon. Kevin Costner plays the trusted Kennedy political operative, Kenny O'Donnell. Bruce Greenwood plays the President, and Steven Culp is Bobby. Script is based partly on interviews with the late O'Donnell. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6. CONTINUING: All the Pretty Horses: Based on Cormac McCarthy's award-winning novel and directed by Billy Bob Thornton, Matt Damon and Henry Thomas star as young Texas cowboys who head to Mexico to work with horses in 1949. Also stars Penelope Cruz, Lucas Black and Ruben Blades. Highly recommended. R. Cinemark 17. Bring It On: Kirsten Dunst (The Virgin Suicides) is a cheerleader who wants to lead her squad to a national title. Gabrielle Union (She's All That) is head of a rival, inner-city hip-hop squad that has a score to settle with their suburban counterparts. PG-13. Movies 12. Cast Away: Fed Ex manager Tom Hanks learns to survive when he washes up on a remote tropical island after his plane crashes. Helen Hunt is the girlfriend he left behind. Intimate direction by Robert Zemeckis, a lean script by William Broyles Jr., and an edgy performance by Hanks. Highly recommended. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Movieland 6. Charlie's Angels: Elite private investigators Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore), and Alex (Lucy Liu), work for Bosley (Bill Murray), Charlie's lieutenant. These gals can handle anything on land, sea or air with up-to-the-minute martial arts skills, futuristic vehicles, high-tech tools and toys, and a raft of crafty disguises. PG-13. Movies 12. Contender, The: Three big stars -- Joan Allen, Gary Oldman and Jeff Bridges -- star in this political drama directed by Rod Lurie. Allen's character is a senator in line to be Vice President, but Oldman plays an old enemy who remembers a sex scandal from the past. Highly recommended. R. Movies 12. Coyote Ugly: David McNally comedy about cocktail waitresses who perform juggling acts with bottles in a rowdy New York bar. Stars Piper Perabo, Maria Bello, Melanie Lynskey, Adam Garcia and John Goodman. PG-13. Movies 12. Dracula 2000: Wes Craven's modernization of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel starring Gerard Butler, Johnny Lee Miller, Christopher Plummer and Jennifer Esposito. R. Cinemark 17. Dude, Where Is my Car?: Danny Leiner's one-joke comedy is about a couple of dudes who get too drunk to remember where they parked the car with presents for their girlfriends. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Emperor's New Groove, The: Disney animation, Sting's music, and the voices of David Spade, Eartha Kitt and John Goodman enliven this tale of a young emperor who is turned into a llama and learns to be nicer to others. G. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6. Family Man: Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) directs Nic Cage, Téa Leoni and Don Cheadle in this fantasy of an unmarried investment banker who sees what his life could have been had he married his only love. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Madcap Jim Carrey brings to life Dr. Seuss's green grinch who wants to keep Christine Baranski, Molly Shannon and Bill Irwin and others from celebrating Christmas. Directed by Ron Howard. PG. Cinemark 17. Little Vampire: Cute kid from Jerry Maguire Jonathan Lipnicki has a vampire friend he shares adventures with. Based on books by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg; directed by Ulrich Edel. PG. Movies 12. Meet the Parents: Ben Stiller plays the unfortunate prospective son-in-law to Robert Di Niro's overly protective father. Directed by Jay Roach, the film also stars Teri Polo and Blythe Danner as the engaged daughter and her mother. PG-13. Movies 12. Late night Bijou. Men of Honor: Cuba Gooding Jr. plays the first black man in the Navy to try to be a SEAL. Robert De Niro plays the racist officer who tries to break him. Directed by George Tillman Jr. (Soul Food). R. Movies 12. Miss Congeniality: Dubious comedy stars Sandra Bullock as an FBI agent posing as a beauty contestant, Miss New Jersey. Directed by Donald Petrie, flick also stars Benjamin Bratt, Michael Caine and William Shatner. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Red Planet: Val Kilmer is an American astronaut on the first manned flight to Mars, where the team hopes to find a place for Earth to colonize. With Benjamin Bratt, Tom Sizemore, Terence Stamp and Carrie-Anne Moss. Directed by Anthony Hoffman. PG-13. Movies 12. Remember the Titans: Football movie based on the true story of a 1971 Virginia high school falling apart from racial conflict until a black coach (Denzel Washington) from out of town pulls them together. Directed by Boaz Yakin, it also stars Will Patton and Kip Pardue. PG. Requiem for a Dream: Brilliant, deeply disturbing film directed by Darren Aronofsky (Pi) from a script by Hubert Selby Jr. (Last Exit to Brooklyn). Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans give realistic, gritty and courageous performances here as junkies on the down slope. The film is innovative and beautiful, but you will not sleep well after this one. Unrated. Late night Bijou. Sixth Day, The: Roger Spottiswoode directs this futuristic thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in two roles. One is a clone, but nobody can tell which one. Also stars Wendy Crewson as his wife, Tony Goldwyn and Robert Duvall. PG-13. Movies 12. Space Cowboys: Director Clint Eastwood attracted Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner and Donald Sutherland to star with him in this outer space adventure flick. They play retired Air Force test pilots who have to defuse a leftover Cold War satellite in space before it hits earth. PG-13. Movies 12. Traffic: Steven Soderbergh's acclaimed new film takes a hard look at the complexities of drug interdiction programs. With an all-star, ensemble cast that includes Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Erica Christensen. Brilliant directing, excellent script and dynamite performances make this the best film of 2000 (so far). R. Cinemark 17. Cinema World. See review this issue. Vertical Limit: Action adventure tale of a former mountain climber who has to save a sibling trapped at 26,000 feet. Chris O'Donnell is the traumatized ex-climber, Robin Tunney is his sis. Directed by Martin Campbell. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Movieland 6.. What Women Want: Mel Gibson stars as an accident victim who can suddenly hear the private thoughts of women. The women in question include Helen Hunt, Marisa Tomei and Lauren Holly. PG-13. Cinemark 17. Cinema World 8. Movieland 6. MOVIE THEATERS Use the links provided below for specific show times. Bijou Art Cinemas Bijou Theater | 686-2458 | 492 E. 13th Regal Cinemas Cinema World | 342-6536 | Valley River Center McDonald | 344-4343 | 10th and Willamette Movieland | 342-4142 | W. 11th and Seneca Springfield Quad | 726-9073 | Cinemark Theaters Movies 12 | 741-1231 | Gateway Mall Movies before 12:30 are Sat. Sun. only. $1.50 all shows all days. Cinemark 17 | 741-1231 | Gateway Mall NEW RELEASES ON VIDEO: Releases subject to change. Available the Tuesday following date of EW publication, sometimes sooner: Battlefield Earth: Set 1000 years in the future, this bad movie based on late Scientologist L. Ron Hubbardês 1982 sci-fi novel stars John Travolta and Barry Pepper as alien and earthling locked in deadly battle. Directed by Roger Christian. Has made many criticsê bottom ten of 2000 lists. PG-13. Coyote Ugly: David McNally comedy about cocktail waitresses who perform juggling acts with bottles in a rowdy New York bar. Stars Piper Perabo, Maria Bello, Melanie Lynskey, Adam Garcia and John Goodman. PG-13. Kid, Disneyês The: Played by Spencer Breslin, a child meets himself at 40, a man played by Bruce Willis. Is he impressed? Find out in Jon Turteltaubês comedy. PG. Next week: The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Bait, Bring It On, Cecil B. Demented and Mr. Accident. Back to Top Table of Contents | News & Views | Arts & Entertainment Classifieds | Personals | EW Archive