At The Movies - Contagion
Contagion starts out on the day after the outbreak of some crazy new disease that blasts you with flu-like symptoms and seems to be good at killing you rather quickly. It starts out in Hong Kong (which makes sense considering all the squalid ranks of humanity crammed into deplorable living conditions there), but seeing as it's an indirect contact transmission virus, it doesn't take long for it to spread across the globe, and soon we have a pandemic killing millions as frantic governments race to find a cure that isn't too expensive or inconvenient to manufacture. The movie is notable for its eclectic ensemble cast, including Matt Damon (age and Twinkies rendering him almost unrecognizable), Laurence Fishburne (the MAN), Jude Law (people keep talking about hot bad his teeth are in this movie, but I think he's wearing fake choppers to keep with the whole stereotypical Brit thing he seems to be working...after all, he wears an Andy Capp hat and says things like "crikey!"), Gwyneth Paltrow (doesn't do much here...just gets sick and dies...but she plays a VERY convincing corpse!), and Kate Winslet. Now, first off, Contagion has no plot, outside of what I've just relayed to you. However, within that threadbare tapestry, the storylines of several protagonists are woven in and while none of them ever intersect (outside of their connection to the disease in various ways), each one remains compelling and gripping. However, that is both Contagion's strength and its weakness - you get involved with these characters while watching a movie with almost no overall plot, and you're forced to wait for resolutions that will never come. Contagion barely has an ending...no neat Hollywood ride into the sunset as our heroes happily count their blessings and rejoice as they all get busy to re-populate the Earth. No, instead the movie just ends, almost as if Contagion's film crew went on strike one day and Steven Soderbergh just said "screw it" and released it into theaters as-is. But we know that's not what happened. Soderbergh made a big hoo-ha about wanting this film to depict its subject matter as realistically as possible, and by leaving audiences with a somewhat open ending, he has achieved just that. Because in real life, things never end; people die, the survivors move on. Of course, if you know anything about Steven Soderbergh movies, you know that they tend to be very pretty, and Contagion continues that trend. Each shot is framed wonderfully, each camera angle seemingly well thought-out in advance, and each and every detail of each and every frame all seem to have been painstakingly arranged, giving Contagion an almost neo-Kubrick kind of vibe when it comes to its presentation. Soothing, sterile, yet gritty and downright horrific when the need arises. It's a very effective combo. Also, if you've ever wanted to see someone saw open Gwyneth Paltrow's skull and examine her brain like something out of Stewart Gordon's Re-Animator, then you've certainly come to the right place, kids! So, if you can take some non-conventional storytelling and a somewhat open-ended narrative and can live without the usual slam-bang Hollywood ending, Contagion might just come across as a breath of fresh air to you. And, now that I've had a chance to digest it further, I can indeed say that it's a film that is both engrossing AND good. No mean feat, there.
Christopher Boyle E-mail This Page | Follow Us | Local Showtimes | Past Reviews This article is an opinion piece which reflects the views of its author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the site itself, or the owners of Long Island Exchange.
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