my rating: 3.5 out of 5
A mysterious sickness begins to spread across America, and the rest of the world. It can be traced back to one woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) who made a recent trip to China. The Center for Disease Control must work quickly to research, contain, and find the cure for this destructive bug. Is it biological terrorism? Conspiracy? A freak occurrence of nature? Everyone must put themselves at risk to find the answers; and quickly.
Contagion is the latest film from director Steven Soderbergh, director of such gems as three Oceans Eleven movies, Traffic, and Erin Brockovich. How does this one stack up against those?
Not as good, in my opinion. However, it does have a lot of positive qualities. It has a hard-hitting cast, including Matt Damon as a hapless husband and father, Gwyneth Paltrow as a sick person, Kate Winslet as a disease investigator, Laurence Fishburne as a head honcho doctor at the CDC, and Jude Law as a conspiracy blogger. (who seems to be sadly absent from lead roles the past few years!) Contagion clicks along at a deliberate pace, which some may find to be a bit slow. I, however, rather enjoyed the pace. It means that Contagion is laying out its case, like an attorney in the court room, in an attempt to convince the audience that its convictions are true. It even has some details and characters that ring particularly true, like a movie that's based on a true story. However, I pray that it is a story that never comes true!
That is the success of this film, too. It is the subtle underlying reminder whispering to me throughout the film: "this could really happen.." "There are no aliens or space ships in this sci-fi flick...this stuff could be real..." "These characters may be doing things that I could believe people would really do..." And, that is what is disturbing.
If you like dark, gritty dramas, I recommend Contagion. It is not as suspenseful as a movie like this has the potential to be. It exchanges suspense for drama. However, it does have good solid character, like a nice oak table. This is not a plywood movie. It is a dramatic, dark, involving story that lays out a paranoid and grim possibility of what could happen in the world. So, I recommend it. Break out the hand sanitizer, the Airborne, and witness Contagion.
A mysterious sickness begins to spread across America, and the rest of the world. It can be traced back to one woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) who made a recent trip to China. The Center for Disease Control must work quickly to research, contain, and find the cure for this destructive bug. Is it biological terrorism? Conspiracy? A freak occurrence of nature? Everyone must put themselves at risk to find the answers; and quickly.
Contagion is the latest film from director Steven Soderbergh, director of such gems as three Oceans Eleven movies, Traffic, and Erin Brockovich. How does this one stack up against those?
Not as good, in my opinion. However, it does have a lot of positive qualities. It has a hard-hitting cast, including Matt Damon as a hapless husband and father, Gwyneth Paltrow as a sick person, Kate Winslet as a disease investigator, Laurence Fishburne as a head honcho doctor at the CDC, and Jude Law as a conspiracy blogger. (who seems to be sadly absent from lead roles the past few years!) Contagion clicks along at a deliberate pace, which some may find to be a bit slow. I, however, rather enjoyed the pace. It means that Contagion is laying out its case, like an attorney in the court room, in an attempt to convince the audience that its convictions are true. It even has some details and characters that ring particularly true, like a movie that's based on a true story. However, I pray that it is a story that never comes true!
That is the success of this film, too. It is the subtle underlying reminder whispering to me throughout the film: "this could really happen.." "There are no aliens or space ships in this sci-fi flick...this stuff could be real..." "These characters may be doing things that I could believe people would really do..." And, that is what is disturbing.
If you like dark, gritty dramas, I recommend Contagion. It is not as suspenseful as a movie like this has the potential to be. It exchanges suspense for drama. However, it does have good solid character, like a nice oak table. This is not a plywood movie. It is a dramatic, dark, involving story that lays out a paranoid and grim possibility of what could happen in the world. So, I recommend it. Break out the hand sanitizer, the Airborne, and witness Contagion.
I really liked this movie. I also enjoyed the pace, but I can see how others would not. I would recommend that you see Outbreak. It is an older movie of the same topic. The movie is more fast paced, but very compelling.
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