'TRAFFIC' STILL ARRESTING IN CABLE MINISERIES FORM.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic THE AMOUNT of hubris Hubris An arrogance due to excessive pride and an insolence toward others. A classic character flaw of a trader or investor. that went into the USA Network's reimagining of ``Traffic,'' which has previously been realized as a brilliant British miniseries seen on PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, and a strong, Oscar-winning motion picture, is both utterly laudable and somewhat dubious. For while this latest incarnation has many strengths and is a formidable production - far more serious-minded than much of what you'd see from broadcast networks or basic-cable services - it's almost inevitably going to fall short of its incomparable predecessors. Both previous productions of ``Traffic'' served as grim cautionary fables on the unwinnability of the global war on drugs. The USA Network's miniseries sagely expands the battle - drugs are just part of a vast, black- market conspiracy that also involves arms-running and illegal aliens - but also offers a resolution that is more conveniently pat than its previous incarnations. Like earlier productions, USA's ``Traffic'' color-codes its battlefields. Foreign supplies (in this case, Afghanistan, mirroring the British miniseries and becoming more timely in the wake of news of drug lords emerging there) are shot in amber hues. Domestic realities (in this case, the Pacific Northwest as embodied by the Seattle area) are depicted in largely blue-based scenes. Those are the only two fronts on which the battle is drawn in USA's ``Traffic.'' We follow ostensibly os·ten·si·ble adj. Represented or appearing as such; ostensive: His ostensible purpose was charity, but his real goal was popularity. dedicated DEA DEA - Data Encryption Algorithm officials - played by Elias Koteas Elias Koteas (born March 11 1961) is a Canadian actor. Biography Early life Koteas was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to a father who worked as a mechanic for the Canadian National Railways and a homemaker mother. and Martin Donovan - battling drug lords in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, smuggling smuggling, illegal transport across state or national boundaries of goods or persons liable to customs or to prohibition. Smuggling has been carried on in nearly all nations and has occasionally been adopted as an instrument of national policy, as by Great Britain takes place in the Pacific Northwest in the form of drugs, illegal aliens and weapons of mass destruction Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high explosives or nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or . This ``Traffic,'' however, glosses over the concerns of oblivious politicians who, in the previous productions, were unaware of their own children's involvement in the drug trade. Here, the son of the agent portrayed by Koteas becomes involved in drugs via his girlfriend. The Seattle market is also plagued by a local entrepreneur (Balthazar Getty) and an immigrant (Cliff Curtis Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis (born 27 July 1968) is a New Zealand actor. He has shown the ability to portray characters of a wide range of ethnicities— particularly Latin Americans and Arabs — by virtue of his Māori descent. ) whose family has fallen victim to the cutthroat cut·throat n. 1. A murderer, especially one who cuts throats. 2. An unprincipled, ruthless person. 3. A cutthroat trout. adj. 1. Cruel; murderous. 2. nature of the import business. In the end, USA's ``Traffic'' has moments that are too easily resolved, too sexed-up and too contrived to stand up to its forebears. Much of this material was covered more compellingly last summer in HBO's ``The Wire.'' But performances are uniformly excellent - Koteas is particularly charismatic - and it's almost unprecedented to see a basic-cable (or, even, broadcast) network attempt a project that tackles material as grim, mature and deadly serious as USA's ``Traffic.'' David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com TRAFFIC - Three stars What: Loose adaptation of the acclaimed British miniseries and the Oscar-winning movie about the complex networks of drug trafficking. Where: USA Network. When: Part 1 - 9 p.m. Monday, repeated 7 p.m Tuesday. Part 2 - 9 p.m. Tuesday, repeated 7 p.m. Wednesday. Part 3 - 9 p.m. Wednesday. In a nutshell: Both more ambitious and more tidy than its predecessors - but with an excellent cast. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion