Watched: Contagion
Observations:
- This was masterful.
- It took a concept that could so easily descend into hysteria, and gave it a sober look rather than becoming dystopia porn. Not that dystopia porn is bad; it’d just be an easy way out here.
- The Jude Law subplot felt a little contrived here and there - granted, anti-vaccine campaigners always try and get a foothold during any crisis, but his relevance felt a little overstated. Also, I have no idea why 12 million people would visit such a poorly-designed website.
- It grasped social themes without taking a side, and I think that’s impressive on such an emotive subject - it displayed social breakdown and mob mentality, but didn’t go out of its way to sympathise with the man on the street or be scathing. Weirdly enough, John Hawkes was the person who stood out to me most in this, and he only has a couple of dozen lines.
- That said, this film has a fantastic cast - it’s definitely an ensemble film (Sodebergh seems to like them), and everyone plays their part excellently. This is the best role I’ve seen Marion Cotillard play (I’m not counting La Vie En Rose, because I’ve only seen half of it), Jennifer Ehle steals the film’s best moment, and Bryan Cranston is wonderfully authoritarian without coming across as clownish. Also: Demetri Martin! That was a surprise.
- Kind of want to wash everything in my room now, though.