The Bottom Line
With simmering tension and some memorable acting performances by a stellar cast, Soderbergh's disease thriller is worth catching.

With an ensemble cast including Kate Winslet, Matt Damon and Laurence Fishburne, Steven Soderbergh's thriller tracks the spread of a deadly virus that sparks worldwide panic.

Chilly but sometimes truly scary, Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion tries to do for infectious disease what the director’s Traffic did for illegal drugs. Though not as sure-footed as Soderbergh’s 2000 multiple Oscar-winner, this broad canvas thriller could still, with its impressive ensemble cast and ripped-from-the-headlines topicality, attract critical attention and a decent amount of upmarket audience interest.

'Contagion' is a propulsive, terrifying picture with a top-notch cast

talli wrote:theres like 20 clips out on yahoo. and they all are underwhelming. Just like Haywire, this film just seems to be unnecessary.

Rohan wrote:Season of serious film-making has just arrived

The cast is great, and I especially liked Matt Damon's work as Paltrow's husband, a put-upon normal guy who reacts the way any of us would in this circumstance. Watching him try to hold his life together in the wake of Patrow's death is wrenching and there's no easy target for all the frustration he's feeling. I also really liked Jude Law as a sleazy, twitchy paranoid blogger who is sort of right, and that sense of vindication is fascinating to watch play out as things start to go to hell. I think Law is a very good actor, but he has often been cast in movie star roles because of how he looks, when in fact, I think he's a weirdo character actor, and his best work comes when that's how he's used. Kate Winslet is strong and commanding in her role as Dr. Erin Mears, a specialist brought in by the CDC and Dr. Ellis Cheever (Lawrence FIshburne) to help stop this new disease from spreading. Winslet is decidedly non-glamorous in the role, and Fishburne has turned the ham down a bit. Even when people just come in for a few scenes, no one feels like they're trying to tip the weight of the film in their own favor. It is a great example of how a huge cast can be properly juggled so that everybody has their moment. Everybody serves a purpose in illuminating some aspect of how we behave in moments of international crisis.
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-capt ... oid-script

allstarr55js wrote:I think Ides pretty much got the same reaction.