Customer Reviews

Contagion (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy)

5 star:		(22)
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3 star:		(11)
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1 star:		(24)

 

 

Reposted from September 25, 2011

It figures a week after I've seen CONTAGION, director Steven Soderbergh's latest ensemble film, I come down with a cold and a slight cough. Nothing that can't be cured easily with two gel capsules and a glass of water, mind you; however, being sick this week did cause me to pause about the circumstances of my situation.

My dumb cold is nothing compared to the shellacking that Gwyneth Paltrow's character goes through within the first 20 minutes of the film: Rushed to the emergency room by hubby Matt Damon, Paltrow goes bug-eyed, convulses, and flatlines. Yep, Our Lady of GOOP goes down in the first half of the film. Much of Contagion is straight to the point with a sledgehammer, but the stakes are never so much higher as soon as Soderbergh kills off one of its leading stars.

Similar to the multi-threaded storytelling seen in TRAFFIC, CONTAGION tracks a global epidemic in multiple locales across 90-minutes-or-so. One death becomes three, three become nine, and so on, until governments begin panicking, big pharma clasps its hands in anticipation, and the CDC works day and night looking for a cure. Soderbergh deftly avoids the usual plot contrivances and lavish expenses that plague most disaster flicks, choosing to go for brisk montages of society breaking down as people loot Rite Aids for medicine, corpses piling in the street, and long lines at hospitals.

And the talking! If there ever was a film that avoids sloppy expostion, this is it. There's never a moment in CONTAGION where I felt the characters reduced their dialogue to a Cliff Notes pamphlet. At one point, Jennifer Ehle and Laurence Fishburne--both playing a scientist and the head honcho of the CDC respectively--have a sit-down to discuss a mutation in the virus. It's probably the most compelling dramatic scene I've seen this year, if nothing else but to hear the excitement and terror in Ehle's voice as she describes changes in the contagion's pattern and Fishburne calmly nodding in agreement.

CONTAGION is intelligent--in some ways, almost overthinking itself. We need more films like it (and not another Roland Emmerich bloatfest), and we need more directors like Soderbergh who are willing to put their roots from independent "art" films into big-budget genre films.

And if nothing else, you can blame the deaths of 12 million people or so on Gwyneth Paltrow.

This film is close to being a hybrid between a documentary and fictional tale. It is also an ensemble cast which can be difficult to pull off but this movie manages it. Basically, a very lethal virus sweeps the world, turning into a pandemic. There is HUGE loss of life until a vaccine is developed. The first case which brings it into the USA is Gwyn Paltrow who flies home from Asia to Minnesota. Within a very short time of being home with a cold, she goes into convulsions, is taken to the hospital and dies. Her son goes next and is replicates at swift speed after that. I never once felt that this was a science fiction film or one of these comic book based action films. It seemed to develop exactly as such a pandemic would develop around the world.

There is an all star cast. It would be nice to have more screen time for some of them but then we'd miss getting the bigger picture. People do panic, loot, try to escape, kidnap people for vaccine trades and so forth and so on.

There is a trade off for all of this reality and ensemble acting. That is that you never really come to care about anyone or want to explore their stories further. You do feel sorry for Paltrow's husband, Matt Damon, and his daughter, who are left to deal with their own tragedy. However, his character would have to be onscreen a lot longer for one to really work up a connection with his character.

For what this film is, it is very well done and very good.

CONTAGION, directed by Steven Soderbergh, is an intensely frightening look at what really could happen should a new and unidentified virus begin to spread globally. Unfortunately, it's not a very successful film. What makes it work is its documentary-style script, which takes viewers through the spread of the virus, the reaction of both governments and everyday people, and the fear that ends up possessing the world. What makes it unsuccessful is actually the same thing - the documentary style of the film makes it almost impossible to become emotionally connected to any of the characters, most of which are played by people we know and want to care about. Because Soderbergh keeps us so detached from his characters, CONTAGION never quite jells as a truly gripping thriller.

Gwyneth Paltrow plays Beth Emhof, whose business trip to Hong Kong ends up infecting her (and a lot of other people) with a mysterious and deadly virus. Her husband Mitch (Matt Damon), back home in Minneapolis, is inexplicably immune to the disease, and his horror at what happens to his wife and young step-son is palpable and gut-wrenching. Unfortunately, we see so little of Mitch (and even less of Beth) that it's hard to stay connected. Kate Winslet plays CDC doctor Erin Mears, and for a while we get caught up in her race to unravel the mysteries of this terrible virus. But the film jumps so methodically from Dr. Mears to her boss, Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne), to World Health Organization investigator Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) - and it's hard to keep up, much less get invested in these characters. On top of that, there's a very involved sub-plot about a self-serving Internet journalist (Jude Law) who mouths off about unsavory political connections between the CDC/WHO and the pharmaceutical companies, while he's trying to push a homeopathic remedy that could make him a multi-millionaire. There's also a kidnapping plot, lots of scenes of people gone amok, and a very quick resolution to the virus that is neither comprehensible nor particularly satisfying.

Parts of CONTAGION are downright mesmerizing, and there's no doubt Soderbergh knows how to push the panic buttons of moviegoers already worried about H1N1, AIDS, and the latest strain of flu. I just wanted to feel more of a connection to Damon's Mitch, or Winslet's Erin Mears, or Fishburne's Cheever, or Cotillard's Leonora. Soderbergh ends CONTAGION with the kind of lack of closure that will either infuriate its audience or confirm the ultimate reality of its subject matter. Don't expect to find out what happens to everyone . . . or anyone, for that matter. Then again, maybe Soderbergh did us all a favor by keeping us distanced from his characters and not allowing us to actually wrap our proverbial arms around them. It's easier to forget about them that way. And this is definitely a film you won't want to keep thinking about in the wee hours of the morning.

The movie was great - watch it, I swear you'll start washing your hands a lot more :)

UltraViolet Digital Copy is now partnered with Flixster. The partnership means that you have to use the Flixster Client application to download and view the UltraViolet Digital Copy. For those of you who, like me, are used to downloading the UltraViolet Digital Copy through iTunes those days are over. I always looked out for the Digital Copy logo because it meant I could watch the movies using my Apple TV when I didn't want to take advantage of the Blu Ray format. The Flixster Client will let you copy the content to an iPod Touch, iPad or iPhone but it is done through the client app not through iTunes which means the content is not available on your Apple TV. The Flixster Experience isn't a good one and suffice it to say that I will now be looking out for the UltraViolet Digital Copy so that I can avoid wasting my money on it.

Enjoy the movie: think twice about UltraViolet/Flixster Digital Copy.

Contagion has an often used but still interesting premise, the spread of a previously unknown and deadly virus across the globe at an alarmingly rapid rate. It also has a big name cast, including Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, and Kate Winslet, good actors who are sometimes capable of carrying a script with serious weaknesses that otherwise would be hopelessly dull or implausible.

While not heavy-laden with special effects, the ones used, especially the global graphics that display the prevalence and frighteningly likely patterns of spread of the disease, are really quite scary, and the chemical models of the virus are fascinating to behold. It looks as if the whole world is in for tough tests of the reliability of prevailing patterns of social organization under conditions of extreme threat and the ability of modern science to quickly come up with a cure or preventive.

Predictably, rumors spread that an effective medication has been found, but that it is being hoarded by elites. Sensationalist bloggers make the riot-provoking claim that a cure is well known and easily manufactured, but is being withheld by Big Pharma in a conspiritorial profit-couging scheme. For a time, social chaos ensues and survivalism becomes a prevailing ethos.

None of this is new or novel, but while it lasts, it's exciting. As the virus evolves into more lethal forms, it looks as if planet earth may have met its epidemological match.

And then everyting just sort of fizzles out. Kind of like a guy running the 400 meters in the Olympics, burning up the track for the first 200, and then, exhausted, he just jogs the rest of the way. Great beginning and then a good deal of disappointment. Contagion leaves the viewer wondering, "what's the upshot?"

I had high hopes for this movie, but ended thinking "Huh? That's it?" I can't imagine what the writers were thinking. Even actors as good as Damon, Fishburne, Law, and Winslet can't make this one satisfying. And why was such a big deal made of Fishburne's efforts to rescue his too-young-by-half fiancee'? To demonstrate that in-the-know-elites really were making unfair use of their advantages ... ?

Everyone has already brought up the star power of this movie so there's no point in mentioning it again, but what I will say is that it doesn't hold a candle to "Outbreak," a similar movie with a similarly impressive cast.

"Contagion" lacks any sort of a clear story line and becomes more of a playbook for the government if a virus were to spread across the country. Every major plot point occurs extremely abruptly and when the movie is suddenly over, you'll be left with more questions than answers.

This isn't to say "Contagion" is a terrible movie, it just had the potential to be so much better than it is. It is a rental at best.

I can really think of two reasons why "Contagion" is held highly in some circles. It is realistic (for a Hollywood movie) not only in showing events as they happen but also it has no real heroes or villains, only people and the choices they make. It also doesn't dumb itself down for the audience (such as the scenes in innumerable science fiction movies where the crew of a spaceship get basic science and physics explained to them so the audience can get it).

This remote storytelling, almost a coldness, draws you in.....and then does nothing. No one is all good or all bad, and the menagerie of actors each step in for their part, return a few times, and then leave.

This is "real" in the sense there's not a grim horror show or heroes running to save the day and rescue the antidote, but it's also unsatisfying.

When the credits roll the feeling is what was the point to this? Were we supposed to learn anything--believe in anyone? In the end it's as dry as a documentary, and shows only enough to get us to the next scene.

I am a fan of all things sci-fi apocalyptic, especially pandemics. I was very excited when this picture hit theaters but critics didn't seem to love it. I took a risk and bought it used. Killer viruses plus director Steven Soderbergh couldn't be a bad mixture.

PROs:
Very realistic worldwide response to a pandemic (very light on the sci-fi)
Very frightening (The response of people to the fear of the virus)
If you don't like Gwyneth Paltrow or Jude Law, this movie is for you
Excellent performances all around: Matt Damon, Laurence Fishbourne, & Kate Winslet
Excellent documentary style with multi-threading stories following the outbreak of the virus
The nastiest virus I've seen on screen since "Captain Trips" from The Stand
Outstanding Ending!

CONs:
Not a lot of detail on any one particular character during the pandemic (the story is spread a bit thin, one star taken away)

This movie is NOT Outbreak or The Stand. If you're wanting a character-driven drama, you probably won't like this movie. I loved it and will put it on my yearly to see list simply because it is VERY plausable and scared the hell out of me.

[SPOILER ALERT] There is one scene when two coroners are opening up the skull of a virus victim. It is not extremely gory, but it's what they don't show is what haunts me. The looks on the men's faces as they look inside the skull is an image I found hard to get out my mind.

After a new virus breaks out, patient zero, a female executive from the states spreads the disease from Hong Kong to the US contaminating everything and everyone she touches. After the disease begins to spread, the CDC doctors and local officials work hard to contain the virus, and to find a cure. Hucksters, promoting miracle cures take advantage of the situation to hawk miracle cures with zero effectiveness. The story follows different characters as they follow different paths to the end goal- finding an antidote.

While I did find the story enjoyable, I did think they could've handled certain elements better. For instance, I suspect that the doctor who 'notified' his wife prior to the outbreak, would've had his wife already in a protected area. Scientists can't really be expected to work effectively if their loved ones are running around inside known areas about to be quarantined. Second, I am not sure how it really helped to paint patient zero as an adulterous white woman having an illicit affair when she contracts the illness. It just gives the contagion a judgemental quality which I didn't like. Would she never have gotten the disease had she not insisted on having a photo taken with the chef who didn't wash his hands after chopping pig parts? Is this the fate of all evil cheating women?

Overall, I did like the film. I like disaster films as a whole, and this one was handled well, and was full of characters I could relate to.

I was looking forward to seeing this film simply based on the director, Steven Soderbergh. I waited till its Blu-ray release and blind bought the film. I was hesitant due to the mixed reviews, however I was astounded by the perfectly flawless video and audio quality of the Blu-ray, and the well crafted story which quite quick and raw unfolds in Contagion. There is not a huge amount of character development as the movie jumps right into the horror of a virus which starts dropping people like flies in a very short amount of time.

The movie is very entertaining and brings up a lot of personal questions. What would you do? How would you act? Would you have done this or that? I love movies like this which are not only meant to entertain, but also to educate and possibly prepare you for a similar situation. I never really doubted the film. I think a lot of people didn't believe it, especially how the government would react. I for one must state that this is how the people and how the government would react to such a threat to America as well as the rest of the world. It is very interesting how it spreads and don't worry, throughout the film you will pick up more bits of information regarding how this all started. You must watch this until the very end. Don't get bored and turn it off as you are greatly missing the message and story of this scary tale.

The Blu-ray PQ and AQ are amazing and up there with some of the best I have ever seen.

A highly recommended terror film that even with its quick character development will be remembered and watched again.