> REVIEW
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Contagion (2011)
Nothing spreads like fear…
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By Matt Arnoldi | October 2011
Warner Brothers ©
DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh
WRITER: Scott Z. Burns
Speculative scaremongering or a salutary lesson for our times? Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion aims to show just how easy it could be for a virulent disease to kill off huge swathes of the world’s population in a short space of time.
It begins with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Beth Emhoff at an airport, whispering sweet nothings into her cellphone to a secret boyfriend. Returning home to her family from a business trip to Hong Kong, all is well until she starts feeling sweaty over her cornflakes. A few coughs later, we know Beth may have caught more than a common cold. Whilst away, Beth passed her credit card to a waiter and now he’s looking pale. What’s more, he’s just handled a glass for another customer. Just where could this lead?
Paltrow goes into a fatal seizure. Soon after, her body now up for examination, her head is severed and boffins go into orgasmic collapse seeing the nasty things inside. It’s a bold start.
Contagion quickly launches into a series of sub-plots before you can even think of diving for the Kleenex. Kate Winslet plays crisis guru no#2, constantly looks serious and goes all out to shut down the infrastructure because she’s been told ‘to do whatever it takes to limit this’. Her boss (Lawrence Fishburne), who has apparently prepared all his life for such a pandemic, is still taken unawares.
Then there’s Jude Law’s earnest but extremely tedious blogger who distrusts everyone and is out to find out the truth but because he’s so ridiculously annoying, naturally no one in authority wants to speak to him.
Marion Cotillard plays a lab-coated do-gooder trying to look earnest as a representative of the World Health Organisation in Genevaand, while Matt Damon playing Paltrow’s troubled hubby and now widow does his angry ‘I want answers now!’ routine.
We’re meant to feel suitably shocked about the rising depth of the crisis and where Soderbergh is effective is in the realistic portrayal of a deadly virus out of control and ensuring enough major stars keel over before our eyes.
Where his film is shakier, however, is firstly in its failed attempt to make science look sexy. We know someone will find a cure, but watching scientists in bubble suits huddle over bonding cells isn’t exciting. Better to return to the major crisis.
Also, do we really care how Gwyneth Paltrow came to be ill in the first place? Soderbergh thinks we do and then proceeds to show just how two animals could have spread the infection all the way to the dinner table.
The film descends into sugar-coated sentimentality towards the end with shots of cute kids being given antidotes. Perish the thought we go home with nightmares.
One can see why Soderbergh might have thought we needed a viral movie like this given the hysteria in recent years (think swine and bird flu) and yet disaster films in this genre are rarely successful. Wolfgang Petersen’s Outbreak (1995) had a go with its story about the spread of the Motaba virus out of Zairein in 1967. It was believable but once the virus was airborne and doing its stuff, it was always going to have a limited shelf life before it got killed off with an antidote.
The same is true of Soderbergh’s film. It sets out a scenario which is entirely believable but fails to deliver on the suspense. Instead, Contagion takes a fairly pedestrian and methodical approach towards its disease. A racier treatment in the plot might have proved much more thrilling.
Script…………………………………………………………………………………………….
The creation of Scott Z. Burns, who also worked with Soderbergh on the
lacklustre The Informant! Initially we’re treated to some taut dialogue which gives way to an uninspiring narrative circling around characters affected by the virus.
3
Direction………………………………………………………………………………………..
Soderbergh goes for realism and a desire to pre-suppose what would happen in a
viral meltdown. He directs an all-star cast with consummate ease. It’s a pity the screenplay’s coverage of the said virus is largely uninteresting, leaving one
longing for excitement that just isn’t conveyed on screen. 3
Verdict…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Contagion tries to produce a scary scenario from the outset but gets bogged down
in its exploration of the virus, leaving you ultimately disappointed after what was
a fine beginning. 3
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