Bryan Creason

Entertainment Editor

   Lately, movies about world-wide and local epidemics have been panned, such as The Happening, but Contagion proves that epidemic movies can still be pulse-pounding. Contagion, directed by Steven Soderbergh of Ocean’s Eleven fame, brings us a horrible disease that kills in a matter of days. What’s deadlier than the disease, however, is the panic induced by the epidemic, and the breakdown of society as a result.

    Contagion starts with something simple: a cough. Beth Emhoff’s (Gwyneth Paltrow) cough to be exact, and as the audience learns that spells instant death. While Emhoff dies in about ten minutes, she leaves a deadly disease that affects her family along with the whole country that’s tearing itself apart. Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) must take care of his last child after the disease took his son while Ellis Cheever (Lawrence Fishburne) and Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) try to find a cure for the disease; and Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) tries to incite more unrest as a bad freelance journalist.

    Contagion was filmed in a peculiar way; generally, a movie has one to two protagonists, and it’s generally someone to which the audience can relate. However, Contagion follows a different path, with no real solid main character. While it’s an interesting concept, trying to follow everyone’s separate story can be a bit confusing and annoying.

    Storytelling aside, however, the acting in Contagion is amazing from both the A-list actors and the people who played the panicking population. Translating the breakdown of society into film can be both an easy task and a daunting one, but Contagion made it look easy, with the population slowly becoming more agitated, culminating with riots in the street.

    Contagion is a hit that shouldn’t be missed. The epidemic story is a relatively old one, but Contagion proves that an old dog can learn new tricks.