Review - Contagion

Wash Your Hands…NOW!

Spreading germs has always been a little scary. I’ve seen men go to the bathroom and then leave without washing their hands. I’ve seen people pick up a bucket of popcorn as they leave the theater – and NOT the bucket they were eating, just digging in and munching away. Now the new movie, Contagion,will make you want to sanitize everything, everywhere!

The film starts innocently enough on Day 2 of the situation. Some individuals including Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow) have been getting sick. It seems like just a cold, but within days, the individuals are dead. Now the exposure that some have had to these first individuals have created a pandemic.

Some die, and some do not from exposure to infected individuals. There is no cure, though the staff of the CDC and the World Health Organization is working hard to find the origin and a cure all at the same time.

As time drifts by we get to experience the panic and fear that the world copes with. There are conspiracy theorists like Alan (Jude Law), worried Dad’s like Mitch (Matt Damon) and health experts played by the likes of Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet and Jennifer Ehle. All of the characters in this film are worried that they won’t be able to stop the spread quick enough.

Will anyone make it through an outbreak that is worse than anything we have seen?

Steven Soderbergh is truly a phenomenal director. It is with his guidance that this film becomes better than most. Despite a great cast, it is his ability to tell the story with a number of different tactics that will grab hold of the viewer.

And it doesn’t hurt that the cast is truly an award winning lot of some of the best actors in Hollywood. Despite all of the big names, it was probably Ehle as the Doctor that was getting to the bottom of an inoculation serum that stole the show. Her ability to show her conflict and passion was absolutely stunning.

The film is part thriller, part horror and part drama and it all works on virtually every level. Although I have some minor issues, Contagion is a winner and will lead you to one conclusion. Wash your hands, NOW!

A-

Contagion

Warner Brothers Pictures

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet

Rating: PG-13 for disturbing content and some language.

Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes