Contagion

We've all seen films that are based on some sort of virus--usually contagious such as "The Andromeda Strain", "28 Days Later", "Outbreak", even "The Happening", but "Contagion" bumps up the notch a bit when people can contract this virus by merely speaking to someone, touching a door knob, touching someone's smart phone; the list is endless.

This is a thriller centered on the threat posed by an airborne, extremely contagious deadly viral disease called MEV-1 and an international team of doctors headed up by Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) of the CDC, Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) of the W.H.O. and Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle), Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet), and Dr. Ian Sussman (Elliott Gould) contracted by the CDC to find the virus' initial host and track it down from there and hopefully find a cure before the disease kills millions if the fear doesn't grab them first. The selling slogan says it all: "Nothing spreads like fear".

One of the early victims is Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) who contracts the virus on a business trip. She comes home in Minnesota to her husband, Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) and she keels over only to be rushed to the hospital where she subsequently dies. Mitch is shocked only to find out, after being put in isolation, that he is immune to the virus. So at this point, with the help of his daughter, Jory (Anna Jacoby-Heron), he tries to find out what happened to his wife.

Others to round out the cast are Jude Law as Alan Krumwiede, a sensationalistic journalist with a conspiracy theory side to him, Bryan Cranston as Lyle Haggerty, Chin Han as Sun Feng, and Brian J. O'Donnell as Andrew.

This was heart-poundingly paced by veteran director Steven Soderbergh ("Out of Sight" '98, "Erin Brockovich" 2000, "Traffic" 2000, "Ocean's Eleven" '01, "Full Frontal" '02, "Solaris" '02, "Ocean's Twelve" '04, "The Good German" '06, "Ocean's Thirteen" '07, "The Informant!" '09, "Haywire" '11). By his very resume, this guy can really give a one, two punch. Of course, Soderbergh's trademark is when he will start somewhere into the film, and then he'll backtrack to the beginning and will end up conveying sense to his audience. Not many directors can achieve this kind of a feat. It was written by Scott Z. Burns ("Pu-239" '06, "The Bourne Ultimatum" '07, "The Informant!" '09) and I believe that if he had just a bit more experience, the script would've been a little more tight and thought out. It starts with a bang, then it kind of peters out somewhere in the middle, But then it does pick up momentum again. If it wasn't for Soderbergh's directing, I think the script would've suffered more, because Soderbergh knows how to keep a production going regardless of what is happening. 

It's kind of like a roller coaster ride with about half the thrills. It's definitely worthy of a viewing, but don't expect too many answers to a plethora of questions looming in the background.


Out of 4 stars: 3                       Rated: PG-13                         106min.