“Contagion” could be summarized as a 105-minute commercial for Purell. Complete with enough paranoia to make even Joseph McCarthy look reasonable, “Contagion” will provoke viewers to take a Lysol shower and start main-lining Emergen-C.
Director Steven Soderbergh (“Ocean Eleven” (2001)) has a knack for making almost any plotline stylish, and somehow manages to make “Contagion” seem much more interesting than it ever should be with dizzying cuts and a booming soundtrack.
In fact, some scenes are just loud techno music being blasted while the audience watches (but doesn’t hear) people talk, which really is the only way to handle the poor writing in the film.
Soderbergh doesn’t deserve all the credit, some of it should go to the head of casting, Carmen Cuba, who assembled more stars than the National Democratic Convention. Combine both these efforts and the result is an above-average carbon copy of “Outbreak” (1995).
What “Contagion” demonstrates is that audiences cannot get enough of disaster films. Strip away the glitz and the faux social consciousness; we are left with a film that can be grouped with “Volcano” (1997) and “2012” (2009).
And like nearly all other worst-case scenario films, “Contagion” follows a very predictable plot arc. It begins (shockingly) with someone coughing — the onset of the virus. Then suddenly the film cuts to multiple people getting sick all over the world and almost immediately dying. And, predictably, pandemonium ensues.
There is very little point to describing each of the characters because no character gets more than 20 minutes of screen time (there are at least 10 plotlines). Instead, everyone is weaved in, showing the progression of the virus as it begins to affect (kill) more people.
While the quick pacing helps to keep the film interesting, the lack of character development gives the viewer a certain detachment, causing them to watch without any emotional investment.
“Contagion” does do a good job of covering all the groups of people (general public, bloggers, CDC/government) who would be affected by the virus, and giving each a face.However, since so little time is taken to develop those people representing each group, the film feels more like a news report than a story.
With so many stars, “Contagion” was bound to have some impressive performances, yet the only one that stands out is Laurence Fishburne’s portrayal of Dr. Ellis Cheever of the CDC. Fishburne manages to bring a sense of humanity to his role in a film that feels fairly devoid of anything resembling emotion.
While Fishburne shines, Matt Damon (who plays everyday civilian Mitch Emhoff) seems to be channeling Jason Bourne in the emotive department, putting on a performance that makes Ben Stein seem histrionic. Granted, he does finally redeem himself in the end with the film’s most (and only) touching scene, but the audience did just see his life get torn apart by the virus. A little more passion wouldn’t have hurt.
“Contagion” is fluff entertainment, there to feast on viewers’ deepest fears and give them an elevated heart-beat for an hour and a half. It commits no egregious cinematic crimes, but still does nothing spectacular. If only the film was as extraordinary as the disease it portrays.