Contagion

If someone would ask me what i know about viruses, i would not know anything about the subject. I just know what the papers write, and of course working in health care you learn some smaller basics. Honestly i don´t know if i want to learn much more, since there must be many types of viruses wich are very dangerous. In this movie Contagion, a virus spreads all over the world just as fast as Fabio combs his golden hair. Will Contagion make people fear the future, or will it at least make us more observant on what could happen?

Hong Kong. A buisness woman Beth Emhoff ( Gwyneth Paltrow ) is ready to travel back home to Chicago since her work is done. She seems to have a bad cold, but her health is becoming worse very quickly. 2 days later she falls down, having seizures. Her husband Mitch ( Matt Damon ) follows her to the hospital, but there is no way to save her life. His son Clark also seem to have been infected with the same virus, and just that same day he lost his wife, his son dies at home. Dr Ellis Cheever ( Laurence Fishburne ) who works at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is asked to investigate the virus. He finds that it is spreading faster than expected, and asks Dr. Erin Mears ( Kate Winslet ) an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer, to continue the investigation in Minneapolis. More reports are coming in about infected people, and something needs to be done before the virus spreads further.

Virus movies have been made in all kinds of shapes. The closest one to Contagion would probably be Outbreak in 1995 with Dustin Hoffman. And i have to say, the message still works. It does not matter if the story itself have been made before, in different ways. It is still possible a virus could spread all over the world and start chaos, the problem is how do you stop it? With an incredible cast like Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Judle Law...and many more, we know we are served with talented actors. So far so good. My only problem with Contagion is that i would have wanted some more rage, and fury, from the characters, about their situation. Matt Damon seems to be one of the few who tries to live into his characters life, who lost his wife and son, and his life falls apart. A bit more of this in some of the other characters, and Contagion could have been even better. Still, this is a solid piece of work. It is worth watching since the subject will always be current. I must not forget to mention Jude Law's effort, he is really effective as a cocky reporter, who tries to give people the truth. If you are afraid of germs, Contagion will definitely make you a nervous breakdown. But if you enjoy suspense thrillers in the medical world, this should make you pleased.

Rating: DDD