Contagion

I was watching telly and saw an ad for "Contagion" and there was a bit in it that showed Matt Damon being told that his wife had just died, and then he said "ok, well can I go talk to her?".  Naturally I found this hilarious and thought I'd go along to the cinema and have a good chuckle at him and kill some time.  I wasn't expecting much from this film because Jude Law was shown in the add with a very dodgy fake tooth thing that reminded me of Fagin from "Oliver Twist" especially when combined with his cockney/Australian/east end mush accent.

So I was watching and waiting for a good laugh that never came.  I was totally wrong.  The film actually was what it had sold itself to be.  It was about a woman, Gwyneth Paltrow who arrives home from Japan with the flu.  That's all fine and normal until she appears to have an epileptic fit in her kitchen in the arms of her husband, Matt Damon, and dies shortly thereafter.  This is spread to Paltrow's young son, but not her husband who is immune (for some reason I either can't remember, or they didn't clear it up properly!).

Hundreds of people are dying, then thousands and so on.  The film was very good at creating a sense of desperation and claustrophobia while at the same time showing quite a lot of outdoor scenes and many countries. 

There are lots of sub-plots and a wide variety of characters, each with a necessary purpose.  Jude Law plays the personification of a conspiracy fuelled force that is so self assured and arrogant that he is almost like a contagion himself.  His purpose is to make the audience question what they are watching.  I found I was questioning the validity of the film I had paid to see.  I realised afterwards that that is the mark of a great film, you get so engrossed that you begin to think of it as though it is real life for a time.  That's what I liked most about this film, it drew me in!

In my opinion, it is well worth watching, it will make you panic for days afterwards every time you hear a cough!!