It's sad that this is considered some sort of classic

Rating: 7/10 (3 November 2001)

An Oscar-winning movie? Please. Of course, the Oscars have a history of rewarding undeserving movies, while deserving ones are often not even nominated. I'm not sure if Traffic was even nominated, although it won for best director, how ironic. I didn't feel this movie was anything extraordinary even by "summer blockbuster" standards, much less oscar standards (which obviously aren't too high these days).
It's not that I dislike the movie, it was an enjoyable summer flick. I think Russell Crowe is a fine actor, although this is hardly his finest work. I guess the Academy likes epics, as they've shown in the past. I didn't even find the special effects to be that great, they were often blurry and disjointed. Overall...the movie makes no real impact on me. It's a decent enough movie, certainly not great. A bit overly melodramatic but not as bad as some movies of recent years. A solid if uninspired film...but an Oscar-winning classic? I don't think so.