One of the people he beat for the Oscar, was himself. And he beat Steven Soderbergh for Erin Brockovich. He beat Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
It’s also the film that’s responsible for Mexico looking yellow in every single American-made crime thriller that takes place there (Looking at you, Breaking Bad). Steven Soderbergh had just won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film, Traffic.