Contagion

A couple of years ago director Stephen Soderbergh had 4 films come out in one year but he has been a bit quiet since then. Now he's back with an all star thriller.

The type of films that scare me are those that feature people dying by a deadly virus. Regular horror films with death and mutilation by a homicidal maniac, I don't find terribly scary. I feel I will have a better chance of dying from a virus than from a knife wielding maniac, so they seem more scary. In saying that I'm not a germaphobe.

Soderbergh and writer Scott Burns have crafted and excellent thriller which looks at how we would react if a deadly virus broke out. From an organisational view point it is fascinating to see what would happen. How the various organisations around the world would handle things. They also look at the types of situations that could develop. What some people will resort to when placed in a deadly situation. How some will take advantage of it and profit by it. The film does however lack a bit of emotional involvement. Most of the characters are people from government or medicine who are looking to control the virus. There is one character, Mitch, who is an average person. We see how he reacts so we see the more 'human' side of the situation. I would have liked a bit more of that average person viewpoint.

Soderbergh has assembled a top notch all-star cast for this film. As mentioned above, most of their role involves reacting to news and solving problems. Not much emotional skill. So while they are excellent as you would expect, it is not that much of a challenge performance wise. Matt Damon is the one who gets to emote more and does an excellent job. His scene when he finds out his wife dies from the virus is brilliant. I did also like Jude Law and is arrogant blogger character. A perfect amalgamation of all the bloggers you would see on the internet. I was a bit baffled by his character having a fake front tooth. I did not understand why he had it so my constant staring at it was a bit distracting.

A cleverly made virus outbreak thriller. Stephen Soderbergh once again displays his great skills as a film maker. It would have been better though with some more emotional involvement of the characters.