Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Ehle, Elliot Gould, Laurence Fishbourne, Marion Cotillaird
Some stories are just too ambitious for a two-hour film, "Contagion" is one.
It's tale of a global pandemic would have been better served as a TV mini-series, two feature length episodes over two nights let's say. The first half is engrossing as we track the spread of the virus but once it's hit it's deadly peak the movie collapses. The film's view of the effects of this sort of catastrophe are just too naive and simplistic. In reality the actual virus would be the least of our worries, the social and economic collapse would be the real problem. This is glossed over in Soderbergh's film, instead we get what amounts to little more than an "America! Fuck Yeah!" ending.
The best part of "Contagion" is that you get to see Gwyneth Paltrow die and then have the top of her head cut off. I've always had utter contempt for her but even I never thought she'd contribute to a global catastrophe.
5/10
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