There have been many disease-of-the-month movies, and many have just turned into Zombie-of-the-Month; but this one has focused entirely on the disease itself, the course it takes, and the people it touches (regardless of race or social status). Common cold, Ebola virus, STD, or The Kissing Disease; they all could have been the muse for this - because what is interesting is not the cure for the disease, but in this one, what is interesting is its birth.
When it comes to the diversity of this movie, it has to be applauded. This is an ensemble piece, and the greatest minority in this movie is the disease - which enters the picture on many levels; the first is with a cough.
Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow), returns from a businesses trip in Hong Kong with a cough, and then a fever, and becomes very sick within a 3day timescale. Her husband Mitch (Matt Damon), rushes her to the hospital where (as you see in the trailer), she dies. His troubles don't end there, but in the meantime, the doctors try to do an autopsy to find the cause of death.
What they find is a mystery.
Contagion is not a thriller in the regular since of the word, it is more of a medical-thriller, where there are not spectacular special effects of Hollywood CGI illusions. For some, this may come across as a disappointment. If you find the History Channel intriguing, then this will appeal to you. The acting is great among the central characters, and the direction of Steven Soderbergh, keeps you interested (just as his movie Traffic had done). How society handles an unknown virus is quite interesting.
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| Origato Mr. Roboto |
When Mitch's wife is examined and they discover a new and unknown virus in her system, the chain of discovery goes in the direction of CDC (at Homeland Security - it is amazing how threats on the human population have now involved every nature of human life, and for that matter, the involvement of Homeland Security in regarding everything as a weapon of mass destruction). We meet Dr. Ellis (Laurence Fishburne) who tries to understand the threat, and Dr. Erin (Kate Winslet) who works with understanding how the threat is spread. She has a difficult time getting a vaccination started and funded in time to have it not only produced, but distributed; oh, and to make sure that it works!
Meanwhile, the virus is spreading by the hundreds, with Mitch seeming to be immune, and having now to take care of a daughter on his own who he is not sure has inherited his immunity trait. The neighborhood is shared by a neurotic blogger Alan (Jude Law) who posts conspiracy theories about the political/pharmaceutics connections to this new disease. Then there are the scientist Dr. Ally (Jennifer Ehle) who must find a way to isolate the virus to create a vaccine - and in the end when too many failures reduces her funding, she decides to inoculate herself on the version she has more faith in.
We also have Dr. Leonora (Marion Cotillard) with the World Health Organization who is at work at trying to find where this disease originated. A disease that eventually has the population scared, the President in hiding, cities quarantined, and nations blaming nations.
The diversity in this film is refreshing, and the mesh of nationalities are neither stereotyped or exploited. In fact, they are interchangeable, and this is a good thing, for something like a disease that can be caught by a simple cough, it becomes a movie that we feel can not only happen, but one that can happen to any one of us. Each of the actors are at their best (with nods to Marion, Laurence, and Kate), with emotions that let us know that these characters are real people on the inside, with a life beyond what they do for a living.
In speaking about the diversity, what Marion's character goes through when she visits Hong Kong and a local village that wants the vaccine first - provokes anger and a realism about Power and Privilege. It is very accurate at how the world treats the poor and the minorities within its backyard.
Contagion could have been a made-for-cable movie if not for the star power that it employees. It's message is simple, and reflects all our lives, and its examination of society coming together against a common enemy is what is really contagious about contagion.
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