'Contagion' is a sick movie in more ways than one

Release: September 9th, 2011

Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Run Time: 1 hr 45 min.    Rated: PG-13

Watching Contagion, after awhile I became distinctly aware that I had not washed my hands before digging on in.

My God what could be on my hands?

This is why watching a film like Contagion is usually not my cup of tea, but in all honesty the film is an interesting, if not slightly flawed piece of work that kept my attention throughout.

Contagion is essentially a disaster film that focuses on the very real possibility that a virus could devastate the human population. This is presented in an understated tone, with no over the top actions being taken by government or citizen.

Basically it's being more realistic then the usual disaster film fare.

The film follows multiple people in various positions in the world, and it's the people that really make this an interesting film, and not the virus itself.

From top officials like Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) to average Americans like recent widower Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon), all of the characters act differently and are affected differently based on their role in life.

What Contagion does really well is highlight the idiocy of policy and the various human reactions when faced with crisis or disaster. In many ways, this is more about humanity than it is a virus, and this is great for a genre that puts too much focus on the event and not the people dealing with it.

In theory this should be thrilling, and Contagion is advertised as a thriller, but I never found it to be very thrilling. Creepy is the right word to describing the film. The creepy feeling is created with understated realism, the fact germs can be passed so quickly, and the musical score from Cliff Martinez.

The creepiness in this film is overpowered by the medical aspect of the film, which plays far too big a role. It's too medical, and at parts can become very boring because of it. For the most part the medical jargon is too much in some places, and that can really take a person out of the film.

There is a scene where the doctors at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are discussing what the virus is, and maybe 10 seconds into it the jargon becomes a little too heavy to really keep up with. There is a similar scene at the World Health Organization where it too becomes a little too heavy with jargon when they discuss the spread of the virus.

The jargon gives Contagion a clinical feel that takes the viewer out of the film, and the film then begins to feel like it's moving at a snail's pace. For all my appreciation when it comes to realism, I don't believe that Contagion should have been bogged down in medical jargon like it is.

What Contagion has got going for it is the all-star cast, and the quality performances that go with such a cast.

Along with Fishburne and Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard make up the rest of the main cast. Not a bad cast in my opinion, but the performance that stood out to me was Winslet as Dr. Erin Mears.

Winslet's performance as a CDC worker on the frontlines is probably the most interesting character in the film, because her character brings the two worlds of government and civilian life together, putting her in a dangerous position.

With the quality acting, and the realism, its look at humanity and the problems with policy, Contagion is a good film, but the film does get held back by its slow pace, its clinical feel, and the film's way of making an audience member become periodically disinterested.

Given all of the flaws however, Contagion is still an interesting film. The quality acting alone is worth the price of admission, just  remember to wash your hands before digging into that bucket of popcorn, because this film will have you thinking twice.

Grade: C