Contagion

I had been waiting a while to see Contagion.  My wife used to be a medical professional so I knew she'd have some interest, and I was curious how good another one of these disease movies like Outbreak would be.  I knew Contagion had a great cast and what seemed like a good plot.  As you can tell, I got tired of waiting and ended up ordering it on my blu-ray player's Amazon Instant Video app. 

Contagion is a drama about the spread of a disease.  The movie talks about how the disease is spread, how quickly, through what means, and really explains the transmission well.  They even demonstrate how the disease passes from person to person which helps you feel connected to the situation and characters.  They tell the story through different perspectives including a married couple, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the World Heath Organization (WHO).  The story is what you would expect from a disease flick but it really is very good not only because of the way the story is told but more because of the characters.

The movie is a star studded one.  Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, and Marion Cotillard. Damon and Paltrow are a married couple where the story starts.  Winslet and Fishburne work for the CDC.  Cotillard works for the WHO and is sent to China to investigate where the disease began.  Law plays a blogger who is looking to take advantage of the scare.  All of the cast is really fantastic especially Damon and Fishburne.

Contagion is the best movie I have seen in quite a while.  I gave it five stars on Netflix.  I was really impressed by how well the story is told and how realistic some of the events are portrayed.  The absolute chaos that ensues is a very realistic scenario which I believe would happen.  Overall, I would highly recommend checking this one out, it was well worth the extra $5 I spent.  My only qualifier is that I'm not sure I'd see it multiple times.