Contagion

Steven Soderbergh. He is a mixed bag. But you must admit that he is certainly one classy moviemaker. One can't forget the slick Ocean's Eleven. Not exactly Tarantino-esque but certainly he knows what he's doing.

I had the pleasure of watching Contagion on DVD during the Xmas break. I was expecting a Medical Thriller ala Outbreak. But instead, it was a drama. And a good one too. A bit slow in terms of pacing but it certainly built up into a crescendo.

We had vignettes of stories which came together. Collection of lives being effected by outbreak of a virus which reached epidemic proportion. These stories formed the spine of the movie, rather than the virus itself. And in the end, I felt that the movie was trying to do too much. Trying to tell too many stories, spreading the whole theme too thin in the middle of the movie.

The acting were superb however, not surprisingly by the number of big stars in the movie. The main characters were Matt Damon, Lawrence Fishbourne, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law to mention a few. No downer on this department although some of the supporting cast were given little to work with.

I must admit that the movie would not be to everyone's liking. But I found it enjoyable, not least because it was not what I was expecting. Definitely recommendable.