Ralph's Movie Reviews: CONTAGION

Sunday, September 11, 2011

CONTAGION

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Gwyneth Paltrow: Executive Director Beth Emhoff
Matt Damon: her husband Mitch
Jude Law: freelance journalist and blogger Alan Krumwiede
Laurence Fishburne: CDC Deputy Director Dr. Ellis Cheever
Kate Winslet: CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer Dr. Erin Mears
Jennifer Ehle: epidemiologist Dr. Ally Hextall
Marion Cotillard: Dr. Leonora Orantes, investigator with the World Health Organization
Anna Jacoby-Heron: Mitch’s teenage daughter Jory

REVIEW
Following the evolution of a new strain of virus is not something new so most of what we get to see is somewhat predictable. Definitely closer to the truth than earlier versions it presents a realistic picture of the situation without the usual over-the-top big time disaster scenes.

Given the complexity of the story it is fairly easy to follow although there are a few too many storylines and not all are well developed.

As this is a world-wide problem as a bonus we get a mini-travelogue along with some fine performances by Winslet and Fishburne. The jarring soundtrack can be annoying at times.

CLASSIFICATION

for disturbing content and some language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Beth phones the hotel front desk and says she’s “calling from room 812” which conventionally would be on the 8th floor but moments later she looks out the window and at best she’s on the 4th floor.

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my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.