Contagion (12A)

Film

Thrillers

Contagion

Contagion ..2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Claudette Barius

Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>2/5
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Time Out says

Tue Oct 18 2011

You might think twice about holding the rail on the bus – or ordering the pork – after ‘Contagion’. It’s a sober, engrossing thriller about the hysteria surrounding a worldwide epidemic of a disease that makes bird flu look like nappy rash. Moving from country to country with the vigour of the outbreak, Steven Soderbergh (‘Traffic’, ‘Ocean’s Eleven’) extracts a strong ensemble effort from Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne, none of whom outshine the real stars of the story: rabid death and blind panic.

The death of businesswoman Beth (Paltrow) on her return from Hong Kong sets alarm bells ringing – and the mortality rate soaring. Beth’s husband (Damon) is immune but desperate for his daughter to stay well and safe, even as thugs loot shops and break into homes.
As victims sweat, ache, foam at the mouth and expire, World Heath Organisation employee Cotillard heads to Hong Kong but gets into local trouble – one of the film’s weak points. Winslet is an earnest Center for Disease Control and Prevention worker doing her best to help victims, while her boss (Fishburne) fends off cries of conspiracy. Those cries come loudest from a Julian Assange-alike blogger played by Law, with a laughable Aussie accent – presumably to underscore the Assange reference.

Adopting a clean, chronological and punchy approach, Soderbergh holds a steady eye on panic and chaos. It’s a disaster movie with a brain and conscience. The film plays slyly with our suspicions, although there’s a naivety to the epilogue that edges it into wishy-washy anti-globalisation territory and a couple of story-strand resolutions are more sappy than expected. Mostly, though, it’s level-headed, energetic and enjoyable.
30

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Release details

Rated:

12A

UK release:

Fri Oct 21 2011

Duration:

106 mins

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 2/5 (21 ratings)
  • this film is the best i love it bilal and zain you guys are dum

    zulqurnain Wed Jan 25 2012
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • this bilal and zain should be banned of this website

    mobisher Wed Jan 25 2012
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  • This wasnt as good as I expected but ok! Was a little drawn out but has a good cast.

    Deec Tue Jan 3 2012
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • Don't know why there are so many bad comments. A good ensemble cast delivered great performances on the whole. I thought the film had a documentary feel as the cinematography and editing had a hyper-real/ ugly look to it. I know some plotlines may not have had a satisfactory conclusion but doesn't this also happen in real life? Do we always have happy, well-rounded endings in the real world? Maybe that was the point. One flaw though was the Jude Law/ Julian Assange character. Did he really need to have an Aussie accent? I think the audience was capable of drawing the comparison without such obvious signposts.

    Marsellus Thu Nov 17 2011
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • This is the kind of hollywood propaganda that consistently ran out of the nose of tinsletown in the Macarthey era, only in 2011 Americas bogeyman isn't Russia anymore. What it tells you in its cynical B-picture with a budget trappings is Americas next great threat is China, in fact the Chinese aren't even to be trusted on a personal level, also extra marital sex will kill you in three days, even if you're Gwyneth Paltrow, pre marital sex will also kill you and if you're wondering why Jude Law has a laughable Australian accent, its because he's Julian Assange! Who you shouldn't trust kids, he's a bad man and he tells lies on the internet about poor, honest, hard working corporations, financial institutions and governments. Bad, bad man. All lies, kids. Did we mention he's a liar? All this cynical propaganda could almost be forgiven if the film itself was spirited along with the sense of fun of many 1950's red scare b-movies but this has massively inflated ideas about the gravitas its bringing to the well worn end of the world genre and makes for dull, seen it all before viewing that almost collapses under the weight of its too many cameos. You will probably enjoy this if you go to the cinema for the cuisine.

    Ray Cooper Mon Nov 14 2011
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • Watched again to see if the first time id nodded off and dreamed it but no! It REALLY is a big nothing of a film...frantically hopping from one story to the next as if we all now have the attention span of a gnat, nothing feels finished and before you know it it's day 13, 26M have died we are told yet it feels like nout's even started. SLIGHTLY better than first view as me and brother were having a bit of a snigger here and there! 5/10

    scrumpyjack Sat Nov 12 2011
    Rated as: 2/5
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  • And to think I was going to talk to someone in prseon about this.

    And to think I was going Wed Nov 9 2011
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  • Just dreadful. No tension. No character development. Another laughable performance from Jude Law - how does he keep getting the work ? - which ruins the believability of the whole film. Dull and turgid. Avoid.

    orlovsky Tue Nov 8 2011
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • What a disappointment. A good germ of an idea not to be sneezed at but unfortunately caught a cold a quarter way through and didn't recover. Stay home with a nice cocoa .and chat to your budgie instead.

    paul Sat Nov 5 2011
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • too nuch emphasis on the character of Damon and his daughter, I would say. While stronger charachers like those of Winslet and Jude Law could have been ellaborated on. Cottillard heading for Hong Kond and the hi-jacking side of the story didn't add any value to the story.

    trix Thu Nov 3 2011
    Rated as: 3/5
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