Traffic is a mural of a war being fought and lost. In a culture devoted to instant gratification and the quick fix, it poses unanswerable questions about greed, corruption, economic inequity, pleasure, self-medication, dependency, and addiction. The stories of a well-meaning politician with a wayward daughter, a rich suburban homemaker who sees her comfortable life hijacked by two earnest DEA agents, and a conscientious and honorable Mexican police officer illustrate the difficulties of waging this war against people who are essentially members of the family. How do you combat human frailty, human nature, and the basic human desire to take the edge off? Are we all not just doomed to repeat our mistakes, but--perversely--willing?