CONTAGION (2011)

cast: Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cottilard, Jude Law, Kate Winslet

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Distributed by Warner Bros

release date: September 09,  2011

running time: 1 hr 46 mins

IMDB     Rotten Tomatoes

Now that the summer and all the fun popcorn are out of the way, it is time for the serious dramas to roll in. And it seem the bio-thriller Contagion will start things off this fall.

With an all star cast at his disposal, Steven Soderbergh is back after a hiatus with a thriller of sorts. However with Soderbergh around, you know the treatment is going to be a lot different from other movies of similar nature. Then again one have to keep guessing which Soderbergh are you going to get - the slick (Oceans 11)  or the gritty (Traffic). Whichever it is, Soderbergh is a name that keeps one interested.

Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart. 

THE PANEL ROOM

 Tense, tightly plotted, and bolstered by a stellar cast, Contagion is an exceptionally smart -- and scary -- disaster movie. ROTTENTOMATOES  7.2/10

"Contagion" is a realistic, unsensational film about a global epidemic. Roger Ebert  3 /4

After this summer's onslaught of highly variable superhero fodder, "Contagion" arrives as a welcome antidote. Michael Phillips 3 /4

While potent and well-paced, Contagion doesn't come together as the fearsome bio-thriller it starts out to be.  Claudia Puig 2.5 /4

While it certainly succeeds as a semi-documentary account, it fails to deliver a strong emotional punch. Frank Sweitek   C+