Kay McFadden / Times staff columnist
USA's 'Traffic' never quite picks up speed

	ALEN ZENUK / USA NETWORK Mary McCormack plays the wife of a DEA agent in USA's six-hour miniseries "Traffic."
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

That is the riddle to "Traffic," the complicated six-hour miniseries airing from 9 to 11 tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday on USA Network.

The title requires clarification. USA's "Traffic" taps into the same material about the war on drugs that inspired the Oscar-winning film "Traffic," which was based on a European miniseries that drew from Channel Four documentaries.

Still, to label the latest "Traffic" derivative is misleading. Writer and executive producer Ron Hutchinson has crafted original characters and plots, if not ideas.

More important, the primary influence for this rehash appears to be not any kindred "Traffic" but the Fox series "24."

Or make that the current season of "24" — gaping holes in the plot, inconsistent characters and once-enthralling production techniques now past their prime.

The miniseries also resembles "24" in its disregard for larger social and political issues.

	ALEN ZENUK / USA NETWORK Balthazar Getty plays Ben Edmonds, a bankrupt businessman, in USA's "Traffic," premiering at 9 tonight.

Whereas the film "Traffic" wove riveting action sequences with a pervasive sense of emotional futility, the new "Traffic" strives for pure immediacy and a global view of criminal enterprise that is mechanistic rather than moral.

USA's production has four story lines that focus on illegal trafficking. This evening launches with DEA field agent Mike McKay (Elias Koteas) on assignment in Afghanistan, where he's tracing the defunct Taliban regime's legendary cache of heroin.

It gives away no great secret to say Mike McKay is Jack Bauer. From his cowboy style to the eventual world-saving scenario that hinges on him and him alone, McKay embodies the simultaneously brave and self-absorbed hero.

However, Koteas is not Kiefer Sutherland. Good in dark roles like murderer Gary Gilmore in "Shot in the Heart" and the star of David Cronenberg's "Crash," Koteas doesn't project vulnerability. He's not just a law unto himself; he's unto himself, period.

Consequently, there's no real sense of connection between him and his family, who live out the second story line in a Seattle best known to local viewers as Vancouver, B.C.

Centered in Seattle

Wife Carole (Mary McCormack) and son Tyler (Justin Chatwin) have just moved to the Emerald City from Los Angeles. Heroin soon will enter their lives directly, after Tyler becomes involved with Angie, a pretty teenage addict (Jennifer Rae Westley).

The third and fourth stories also are set in Seattle. Chechen immigrant Adam Kadyrov (Cliff Curtis) is desperately waiting for his wife and daughter, who may have gone down on a freighter secretly taking them to the United States.

Rounding out "Traffic" is the saga of bankrupt businessman Ben Edmonds (Balthazar Getty). He is forced into partnership with suave criminal Ronny Cho (Nelson Lee), whose activities include illegal importation of human beings — like the ones on that freighter.

Ah, that freighter. It should be named the S.S. Rosetta Stone, given its purpose is to unite and resolve all the questions that "Traffic" raises about drug dealing, immigrant smuggling and yes, a terrorist threat to America.

But this vehicle sinks in more ways than one. "Traffic" doesn't have the expert piloting needed to guide so much cargo to a satisfying resolution. The four stories turn out to be mostly self-contained and only some forced contrivances bring them together at the end.

On a positive note, that frees audiences to consider each tale on its own — almost.

We first must hurdle Part 1, where frenzied cross-cutting tries to force the stories together and trick the audience into being excited. Adding to the chaos are alternating hand-held and long shots, the signature work of former "24" director Stephen Hopkins.

It picks up momentum

Luckily, the results are skippable. Developments plod along at a snail's pace and are entirely predictable. You can pick up at Parts 2 and 3 with another director, Eric Bross, who has a linear approach more suitable to a long miniseries.

Part 2 is "Traffic's" best installment. It delivers the most affecting scenes, as Kadyrov tries to learn what happened to his missing spouse and child and discovers some bitter truths about the illegal immigrant's version of the American dream.

It's also in Part 2 that we get some good performances, from Chatwin and Westley as lustful, star-crossed teens and from Lee and Edmonds in their respective roles of minor mastermind and flunky. The action in Afghanistan remains picturesque, yet blandly formulaic.

Kadyrov's story alone nearly makes watching Part 3 worthwhile. Yet you must possess a high tolerance for disappointment, as the penalties of illogical plotting are inflicted Wednesday night.

"Traffic" also dashes hope on the philosophical side. The creators can't even muster a statement or two about the worthiness of spending millions to pursue heroin dealers in the Middle East or stem the human tide clamoring for economic and personal freedom on these shores.

It's the duty of a reviewer not to give away endings. Suffice to say, though, there's a small, rouge-colored fish swimming at the bottom of "Traffic" alongside that sunken freighter.

Kay McFadden@kmcfadden@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company