A crisply made doomsday epic, “Contagion” homes in on the threat that may be a likelier humanity-killer than global warming or nuclear war.
That culprit is good old-fashioned disease, as in a rapidly spreading bug that sweeps across the globe and resists treatment. The movie is an all-star affair, but it’s grimly democratic in its deadliness; an A-lister is just as susceptible to dying in the first 10 minutes as an unknown.
Steven Soderbergh, an experienced hand at constructing large-cast sagas (“Traffic” and the “Ocean’s Eleven” movies), directs from an obsessive-compulsive viewpoint: The film is riveting in connecting the stray encounters that blow up into an epidemic, and each handshake or sneeze becomes an event of mortal consequences.
The Typhoid Mary of this particular disease is a flu-ridden businesswoman (Gwyneth Paltrow) who returns home to Minneapolis from an Asian business trip. Her husband (Matt Damon) becomes the movie’s first “carrier” of plot, if not the disease itself.
This is an ensemble piece, however, spread across many story lines. We check in periodically with a Centers for Disease Control honcho (Laurence Fishburne in a subtle, professional performance), whose no-nonsense operative (Kate Winslet) is working the field.
Another CDC scientist is played by Jennifer Ehle, an actress who should’ve had a huge career after starring in a BBC “Pride and Prejudice” a decade and a half ago. She all but steals this movie from her higher-paid co-stars.
Marion Cotillard (the Oscar winner for “La Vie en Rose”) plays a doctor, Jude Law is a blogger telling the world they need to stop trusting the government and use herbal remedies, and flavorful people like Elliott Gould, John Hawkes and Bryan Cranston pass through with good effect.
“Contagion” has a slick, cold look that fits the clockwork mechanism of its forward motion; each new case contributes to a mortality grid. Soderbergh holds little back, including one scene that is the worst thing to happen to Gwyneth Paltrow’s head since “Seven.”
At times I felt as though Soderbergh might be a little too dazzled by the overall design of the thing, or by the technical challenge of bringing all this off. Warm and fuzzy this movie ain’t, but he does arrive at some very human moments late in the picture.
What “Contagion” doesn’t quite manage is the sort of epic, all-mankind-hangs-in-the-balance chill of movies such as “On the Beach” or “Fail-Safe,” disaster pictures from an era Soderbergh frequently imitates, the early 1960s.
On the plus side, it makes a potent argument for strong food regulation and frequent hand-washing. Expect to see the number of flu shots go up this year, too.
“Contagion” (3 stars)
Steven Soderbergh directs this cool, clockwork picture about a deadly worldwide epidemic and the race to stop it. The momentum makes it compulsive to watch, even if it never quite captures the epic grandness of the best apocalyptic movies. The all-star ensemble is led by Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne and Jude Law.
Rated: PG-13 for language, subject matter.
Showing: Alderwood Mall, Cinebarre, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Metro, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall.
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