I had been wanting to see this one for a while. Thought I had lost the chance, but a relatively slow release schedule to begin Oscar season has kept it in the theaters. Glad I got the opportunity. On the whole it's a gripping story of shit hitting fan. It's also a none-too-subtle commentary on the status of humanity, and a pretty good one at that.
The premise is a familiar... and... I suppose unoriginal one. There is a disaster, in this case a disease, and not only is the American Federal Government unprepared for it, the larger world and ALL the governments therein are similarly caught off guard. This is a cautionary tale on what might happen. And how worst-case scenarios will inevitably bring out the worst-versions of ourselves.
As a gripping government procedural movie, the film works. I certainly was riveted watching it all play out. How will they handle this? How can they handle an epidemic on this scale? How would I react if put in a similar situation (in terms of an ordinary member of society). It is definitely a thought-provoking movie on that level. As a message movie? Ehhh... I'm not really sure what Steven Soderbergh's point was. That the world is unprepared for a completely unknown/unknowable epidemic in the making? That humanity will devolve into a frayed me-first "society" that would make the world of Lord of the Flies enviable? That people will inevitably attempt to profit from this? Well... yes. All these are true. People are inherently selfish. The governments of the world aren't necessarily ready for a Spanish Flu type epidemic despite the cozy trappings of modern science. If something on par with what happened in the movie happens in reality, in all likelihood things will get bad... and people will die. And hysteria will ensue, governments will fumble about, and things in general will look apocalyptic. My question back to Soderbergh: so what? People have always been people. They will- in most cases- act with their own best interest in mind. Just look at everyone who blows red lights. It's a simple act, but a pretty darn selfish one too. You'd rather risk- however small- causing a collision... or even just an inconvenience for others merely so you don't have to wait for the next green. It happens with alarming frequency, and it is a very small sample of a very basic human selfishness. Now, this doesn't mean that everyone in the world is a selfish troll. Just that a lot of people are in basic ways. It's natural. It's a self preservation instinct. So, again, Mr. Soderbergh, so what? Government is unprepared. Yep, and....? In my view, governments would do their best to get to the bottom of things, get vaccines, and preserve as much humanity as possible. We've been down this road before. Yes, it can happen tomorrow, and it may be bad.
But... perhaps I'm taking this the wrong way. Maybe Soderbergh isn't trying to make a point. At least on a broad scale. Maybe all he was trying to do was craft a government/societal procedural thriller. And, as I said, to that end, the movie works. But even there, I think Soderbergh didn't take it far enough. Sure, people were selfish, people tried to profit, governments fumbled. But in my mind, it was all rather tame. I think Soderbergh missed an opportunity here to inject some really intriguing and original viewpoints here. Cultural differences and religious viewpoints were largely ignored here. Why not bring them out more? It'd be an interesting angle, no? I don't know.
I hate to say it, but as gripping as the story was, it seemed to be lacking... something. (Very eloquent, K). I guess what it was lacking was a bit of freshness. Basically, it was a run-of-the-mill realistic disaster story. Generic real world crisis happens. Scores of humans die. Governments hem and haw. People grow restless. The world starts to look pretty damn apocalyptic. Then, depending on the mood/mindset of the individual crafting the story, things get better and lessons are learned... or humanity fails and ultimately dies... or will shortly after the end credits roll. Contagion is very much of this mold. Very much. The fact that it is carried off by an exceptional cast (including Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hawkes, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Ehle, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, and especially scene-stealer Jude Law as a slithery blogger with a Messiah/money complex.) is, of course, much to the film's benefit. But still, I wish there had been something more original to it. Perhaps a different angle or as I suggested more intriguing questions. As it stands, the movie was hardly bad. It was quite good. But I really feel as though Soderbergh- who is regarded as an interesting, if not auteur, filmmaker- swung and missed a bit with a great opportunity.
I also question what merits there are in raising societal anxiety for no apparent purpose. As I mentioned before, for all the thought provocation going on, if you play forward the possible real-world analogies here, the end result you would come to... largely... is that yeah we ain't ready and it'd be hard to be. And so we're fucked. Yep. So why even bring it up?...
... Because that's the realm in which the best horror/thriller flicks reside I suppose. Hopeless reality. Nothing scarier than that. And... maybe that was the end Soderbergh was after all along. And, it worked. I've been suffering from persistent allergies for the last
Grade: A-
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