Movie Review: Contagion

There are a lot of movies that try to depict how things would be like in the real world if certain events were to transpire. Very few of them accomplish their goal and do so in a manner that comes across as anything close to believable. I've always been interested in the idea of worldwide trouble for some reason, I think it is really interesting to see how different people think different things would affect the entire human race. That's what got me to watch Contagion. Everything I've seen or heard about it points to its incredibly realism.

THE RUNDOWN: Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Contagion features a rather star-studded cast which includes Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, and many others. The film deals with what would happen if some sort of completely unknown virus/disease were to be unleashed upon humanity at some point and there was no known treatment or vaccination. Beyond just depicting the attempts to find a treatment of some sort, Contagion has moments where it focuses on the fallout in society when dealing with a horrid medical disaster.

THE POSITIVE: First and foremost, as a movie buff, this cast is amazing. There are big names all over the place and each of them was slotted into a role that fit them perfectly. Soderbergh is known for being a director that lots of actors want to work with and he clearly puts that reputation to good use here, grabbing individuals who convincingly fit every piece of the overall puzzle.

Most impressive to me was Jude Law in his role as Alan Krumwiede, a freelance journalist/blogger who is one of the first to start the media frenzy about the MEV-1 virus. His screen time is limited, as it is for most of the characters in a cast this large, but he makes the most of it. I completely believed that his portrayal of Krumwiede was spot on as he tried to make the viewer believe he was an opportunistic writer who was trying to get his message out. In this case, that the government powers that be were in bed with pharmaceutical companies looking to make the biggest profit from the research into a vaccine for the virus.

Laurence Fishburne also turned in an excellent performance as the head of a government health agency looking to keep control of the media frenzy, the research into the origin/treatment of the virus, and the inevitable fallout of both situations. I think I'd like to know that someone like his character was in charge of things in such dire circumstances.

The story was superb. The chain of events were presented in a way that left me believing every single step along the way was completely probable in a real-world situation. From the unexpected death of a mother and son to the looting and mob mentality as the epidemic reached its most dire point, everything seemed like I could be watching out my living room window and see it happening in real time. Even the sub-plots that are revealed once the vaccination is finally discovered were something I could see happening, and as a matter of fact, I think I would be shocked if they didn't happen to be honest.

I've only seen a couple of Soderbergh's movies, but it seems he likes to keep dialogue to a minimum as much as possible. I'm okay with that as he does an excellent job telling the story with imagery that you can follow, adding your own internal dialogue as you watch. At this point I'm beginning to think I should find some of his other work to watch as well.

THE NEGATIVE: This isn't an action movie, it isn't a thriller, it isn't even a drama. It's more of an observation if anything, which took a little getting used to. At no point did I feel lost, or disinterested in what was happening during the film, but when I finished I felt like I had a hard time pinning down where I felt the film fit as a whole.

As a result, I feel like Contagion is missing a piece of its identity, but not in such a bad way that I can't get past it and see all of the good things it had. The only other knock against the film is that outside of Fishburne and Law, the remaining actors, while excellent in all of their roles, were left with characters that felt a little bit under-developed. It's probably a result of Soderbergh having to decide if he wanted to focus on the individual stories, or the overall picture most, but I do sort of wish I had been given more to go with on Matt Damon's immune husband/father character, or some of the other peripheral characters as well.

WHAT I THINK I THINK: Stay inside if there is ever a worldwide airborne viral epidemic. No, seriously, if you see serious news that a crazy disease is wiping out millions of people around the world, stay home, don't go to work, don't visit your friends. That's not paranoia, it's common sense if you ask me.

Although, after watching Contagion I find myself wondering how I would react if I was in a quiet suburban neighborhood and saw looting and robbery commencing all around me by those who were in panic mode and searching for food or other supplies. I think I would keep my cool fairly well, but you never know, it might depend entirely on if my entire family had been wiped out by the epidemic or not.

Food for thought to be sure. If nothing more, it got me thinking that living in a house someday rather than an apartment complex in close quarters with other families might not be such a horrible idea in such situations.

WHO SHOULD WATCH CONTAGION: Anyone who likes a realistic story will enjoy this film. It's probably not a great date or party movie due to the heavy nature of the subject matter, but if you are at all interested, definitely give it a watch, you likely won't be disappointed. Also, anyone who likes good soundtrack music should enjoy it as well, I was captivated by the soundtrack Soderbergh put behind the imagery he was using. It really drew me in.

FINAL SCORE: 9 out of 10