The drug war yields few heroes in Traffic, a movie perfectly made for Oscar consideration.
Traffic follows three story lines that never overlap but intertwine very nicely.
For them, staying on the side of the angels involves not only policing the crooks but policing the cops as well. Their efforts become complicated when a member of the army gets interested in smashing a particular Mexican cartel. However you might feel about this argument, the movie does a good job supporting it. Traffic does not preach too much. The American drug agents are not made into villains.