Intro
Contagion (2011)
When I started this project, I certainly didn't think this movie would become shockingly relevant. Indeed, the subject matter of the movie is a pandemic that sweeps the world, although the pandemic that sweeps the world of Contagion seems to be considerably worse and with like a 25% death rate, which I would never walk outside if that was the death rate right now.
So the movie was not as difficult a watch as I thought it might be - watching a movie about a pandemic while a pandemic is literally happening could in theory be a tough watch. But I think I watched this at the right time. We still don't know a lot about the virus, but I think it's safe to say that the virus in Contagion seems infinitely worse. Had I watched this when it was early March, yeah it might have been a worse experience.
The movie is very economical about its approach - this happens, then this happens, then this happens. There's no wasted subplot. This is how the virus starts, you see how it spreads easily, you see the reaction, and you see the eventual cure. Soderbergh and writer Scott Z Burns took painstaking measures to make the movie seem accurate.
The movie mostly succeeds and in fact part of the reason it doesn't completely succeed is because Jude Law's conspiracy character happens to be the fucking president of the United States. Yeah I'm sure if I watched this in 2011, I might take issue with his character, but holy shit was this character's involvement prescient.
This movie doesn't really require big name actors, but one of the benefits of hiring such actors is that you don't need to work as hard to make the death shock you. I know I was surprised when Gwyneth Paltrow's character dies ten minutes into the movie. She gets more screentime through flashbacks, but that's a hell of a role to give to an A lister. It wasn't the first time an A list actor died surprisingly early in the movie either.
The vaccine seems to come a bit too quickly in this movie as well. The chief advisor to the movie said it's possible, but there's talk of the vaccine being widely available as early as December and January and that's wildly optimistic. The vaccine gets made in like 20 days in this movie. Not a huge issue, and I'm not really sure how you'd go about making a vaccine that takes months to work in a movie like this.
As far as the actors, they aren't asked to do much, which is I guess why you hire the professionals. The movie is essentially a series of plot points told in an entertaining fashion, so the actors need to act like real people. They do that successfully. Kate Winslet is a standout, but of course Matt Damon is the "lead" if you had to pick one, although it's clearly an ensemble movie. Laurence Fishburne is the other "lead" so to speak, and he gets a bit more to do than the rest, and he's more than capable. Then there's the appropriately despicable Jude Law character, which Law doesn't overplay, he just lets the sliminess speak for itself.
I also have to give credit to the Soderbergh for making shots of the poles in buses and subway trains look as threatening and scary as any killer with a knife. All I know is that I will be wary of what I touch when I feel sick when this pandemic passes, because it really is easy to pass this stuff if you go out in public.
Anyway, Contagion holds up. It seems pretty realistic. You hear terms in this movie like social distancing that are all over the place now, which gave me a very weird feeling. Like that's how realistic this movie feels at times. If you're feeling apprehensive about watching it due to now, the only real frightening, hard to watch part is the Jude Law character. But otherwise, it's an easier watch than you'd think and that's a credit to Soderbergh's direction.
3.5/4 stars
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