I think Kate Winslett is a national treasure. Not our national treasure (by our, I mean us – being Americans) but someone’s national treasure. I hope when she is taken off the shelf they are careful with her and keep her free of dust and debris and smudges. England is a country that is full of such nice things and pleasant buildings. She belongs there, really. Winslett appears in Contagion and she plays the smartest and most interesting character in that film. Lawrence Fishbourne plays her boss and is only slightly less interesting. It is a good movie but probably not a great movie. I like it because in the middle of a zombie bubble in American entertainment (it will burst when the film version of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes out – I’m calling it here), Contagion is a zombie movie I can buy into. But Dr. Wonderbrook, Conrad; you say, it isn’t about zombies at all! You’re right, I reply; which is why I can stomach it. Zombie films are really only playing up to our squeamishness of other people anyway. They offer a cheap narrative trick for disposing of excess people and plunging characters into situations where they must make life and death choices – after nearly every conceivable combination of “…. of the Dead” as a title aren’t we getting a little sick of this? I know I’m tired of people like George Romero and James Gunn – people who aren’t interested in anything that’s real – making movies that conclude that the human race isn’t able to save itself if it was worth saving to begin with. Grow up guys.
Anyway, give Contagion a shot. It is a hyper-link film, which means it doesn’t spend a lot of time with its characters. But a studied viewing earns the viewer some lovely gems of acting and writing.
