Tag: Steven Soderbergh

  • Review: Black Bag

    Review: Black Bag

    By the time you finish this sentence, Steven Soderbergh may have released another film. Since ending his so-called retirement nearly a decade ago, the ever-prolific filmmaker has delivered over a dozen features and several television projects. BLACK BAG follows Presence as his second film of 2025—and it might just be one of the year’s best so far.

    With a screenplay by David Koepp—who recently collaborated with Soderbergh on Kimi and Presence—this spy thriller appears deceptively simple at first. George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett) are a married spy duo working for the British government. When a top-secret asset vanishes, George is tasked with rooting out a mole—who may very well be his wife.

    Koepp sets this twisty tale in motion with an almost stage-like economy, beginning at a dinner party in George and Kathryn’s stunning London home. (It’s truly gorgeous—clearly, I’ve chosen the wrong career). The guests are two pairs of colleagues: Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela) and Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), along with Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris) and Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page). They’re also couples—and all are suspects.

    Black Bag (2025) dinner party

    Like George himself, Soderbergh’s lens oscillates between cool detachment and uncomfortable intimacy. After all, he’s a master of this kind of up-close grilling, a skill he’s honed since his 1989 debut, Sex, Lies, and Videotape. As the opening dinner party spirals into a bloodier take on Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, it cracks open a warehouse of secrets—ones that Koepp and Soderbergh spend the rest of the taut runtime sifting through.

    What truly sets BLACK BAG apart from other spy dramas is its stellar cast. Fassbender plays George as a closed book, revealing only flickers of his relentless pursuit of the truth. Blanchett, by contrast, brings a charged energy that crackles in their scenes together. The only thing that smoulders more are the withering looks of disdain spy boss Pierce Brosnan casually drops whenever an underling displeases him.

    To say much more would be criminal—it’s best left sealed in the titular black bag. From its quiet moments to its nerve-shredding climax, BLACK BAG is a slick, sophisticated thriller that knows exactly how long to stick around.

    2025 | USA | DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh | WRITERS: David Koepp | CAST: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, Pierce Brosnan | DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures | RUNNING TIME: 94 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 13 March 2025 (Australia), 14 March 2025 (USA)

  • Review: Logan Lucky

    Review: Logan Lucky

    If it was possible to put the work of Steven Soderbergh into a box, that container would have a number of smaller chambers to dividing it. LOGAN LUCKY sits solidly inside the one labelled “crime comedy,” and is a spirtual successor to the likes of Out of Sight and Ocean’s 11 and its sequels. In fact, Soderbergh name-checks the latter by dubbing this “Ocean’s 7-11.”

    The Logan family curse isn’t enough to keep down siblings Jimmy (Channing Tatum), Mellie (Riley Keough), and Clyde Logan (Adam Driver), who set out to rob the vault at the Charlotte Motor Speedway during a major NASCAR event. Enacting an elaborate plan that involves springing explosives expert Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) from prison, the ambitious plan hopes to turn the family’s luck around.

    Logan Lucky - Riley Keough

    The shopfront of LOGAN LUCKY is familiar, with the high-profile cast and the rapid-fire dialogue mirroring the conventions of the genre. Rebecca Blunt’s screenplay marks its difference, assuming said screenwriter actually exists, in the completely unglamourous approach to the material. Despite the calibre of the talent, or perhaps as a testament to it, these actors completely disappear underneath cheap clothes and thick West Virginian accents. 

    Keough, for example, is a much more likable cousin of her hustler part in American Honey. It should also come as no surprise to fans of Paterson that Driver is capable of unstated comedy, but his one-armed bartender might be one of the finest examples of his range. Coupled with Tatutm’s dialogue-chewing West Virginian dad, they form a comedy double-act that is only challenged by Brian Gleeson and Jack Quaid as Bang’s simpleton brothers.  

    Logan Lucky

    The film takes few chances structurally, with Tatum’s Jimmy actually writing out a heist checklist at the start of the film that the script more or less follows for the remainder. What keeps the audience engaged is a series of disarming non sequiturs and off-beat dialogue. Prisoners riot over the lack of new Game of Thrones stories. A man in a bear suit delivers a package in the woods. Not all of these elements work: Katherine Waterston’s roaming doctor is underdevloped and feels tacked on as a love interest, while Seth MacFarlane’s British Max Chilblain is as ridiculous as his name.

    Where LOGAN LUCKY ultimately falters is in the final act, the traditional point in which all the clever-clever elements of a heist film come together. There is some kind of magic ingredient missing from the wind-down, with a new subplot featuring Hilary Swank as Special Agent Sarah Grayson complicating the narrative without adding anything especially necessary. Even so, there’s a lot to love about Soderbergh’s joyous return to feature films after a brief experiment with retiring, even if that’s just getting to watch a bunch of fine character actors doing what they do best.

    [stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]2017 | US | DIR: Steven Soderbergh | WRITERS: Rebecca Blunt | CAST: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Seth MacFarlane, Riley Keough, Katie Holmes, Katherine Waterston, Dwight Yoakam, Sebastian Stan, Brian Gleeson, Jack Quaid, Hilary Swank, Daniel Craig | DISTRIBUTOR: Roadshow Films (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 119 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 17 August 2017 (AUS), 18 August 2017 (US) [/stextbox]

  • Review: Behind the Candelabra

    Review: Behind the Candelabra

    The prince of the piano steps back into the limelight as this funny and insightful biopic sheds light on a closely guarded personal life.

    [stextbox id=”grey” caption=”Behind the Candelabra (2013)” float=”true” align=”right” width=”200″]

    Behind the Candelabra - poster (Australia)

    Director: Steven Soderbergh

    WriterRichard LaGravenese

    Runtime: 118 minutes

    Starring: Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Dan Aykroyd, Rob Lowe, Debbie Reynolds, Scott Bakula

    DistributorRoadshow Films

    CountryUS

    Rating:  ★★★

    More info
    [/stextbox]

    It is difficult to believe that Hollywood studios would reject a film for being “too gay” in the 21st century, although this is exactly what director Steven Soderbergh allegedly discovered when he was trying to gain support for Behind the Candelabra. The biography of the twilight years of Liberace, a stage and screen presence for over four decades before his AIDS-related death in 1987, made its way to HBO television instead, adapting lover Scott Thorston’s memoir Behind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace. Yet as with all things Liberace, no small screen could contain him, and Soderbergh’s film is now ironically getting a cinema distribution.

    Behind the Candelabra is the black comedy union of Boogie Nights and Vertigo, taking us into a hidden world, albeit one that happens to be covered in sequins. In the late 1970s, animal trainer Scott Thorston (Matt Damon) meets Hollywood producer Bob Black (Scott Bakula) at a gay bar, and through him is introduced to Liberace (Michael Douglas). After assisting Liberace with his dogs, Thorston is convinced to move in with the star, and what begins as a fling soon becomes something more. However, Thorston begins to realise that Liberace is crafting him in his own image, insisting on plastic surgery and speaking of adopting Thorston. As Thorston becomes addicted to drugs, and Liberace’s infidelity grows, the rift between them grows.

    For much of his career, Liberace’s homosexuality remained a closely guarded secret. As Bakula’s Bob Black comments to a gobsmacked Thorston, surprised that mainstream audiences would enjoy something so camp, “Oh, they don’t know he’s gay.” Richard LaGravenese‘s dark humour leaves little doubt as to that fact, instead choosing to comment on how a lifetime of this kind of repression led to loneliness, narcissism and other celebrity afflictions. Rarely has Liberace’s story been told with this much humour and warmth, and while it may be occasionally seen as mocking the subject, the satirical gaze is focused not so much on the man himself but more broadly on the business of show. What at first seems gaudy and ripe for ridicule on introduction becomes increasingly commonplace by the second half. Indeed, this is how Soderbergh makes the audience fall into the same trap as Thorston.

    The performances are outstanding across the board, Douglas in particular disappearing into the mirrored cloak of the flamboyant pianist. He never crosses the boundary into caricature, despite the obvious affectations and costumes. There’s a real sense of pathos to his portrayal, even more impressive due to the film being told mostly through Thorston’s increasingly unflatteringly point of view. Damon likewise allows himself to be put through the ringer for this outing, porking out before going on a streak of weight loss and plastic surgery that makes staring at his face a journey into uncanny valley. Populated with a cast of rounded supporting roles, with Dan Aykroyd and Bakula shining in particular, and an almost unrecognisable Debbie Reynolds as Liberace’s heavily accented mother. Yet the biggest tip of the feathered cap must go to Rob Lowe. Barely able to open his overworked eyes, his ubiquitous plastic surgeon steals every scene with a precision scalpel.

    Behind the Candelabra - Michael Douglas is Liberace, Matt Damon is Scott Thorston (HBO Films)

    Made for television on a relatively small budget of $23 million, Soderbergh’s talent with getting the most out of an outstanding cast and a wickedly funny script are evident in Behind the Candelabra. The lush set design and lavish attention to detail belies its cheaper price tag, enveloping us with its meticulous adherence to the spirit of Liberace. If this is truly the last Soderbergh film to hit cinemas, it’s certain a fitting full circle for a filmmaker who started his career filming sex and lies in the age of videotapes.


    Behind the Candelabra is released in Australia on 25 July 2013 from Roadshow Films.

  • Trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects

    Trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects

    Following the excellent Magic Mike, director Steven Soderbergh re-teams with Channing Tatum (who began working with the director on Haywire) for Side Effects.

    Once being sold as The Bitter Pill, the renamed Side Effects is a psychological thriller set in the world of the pharmaceutical industry. A troubled woman (Rooney Mara) who is coping with the imminent release of her husband (Channing Tatum) from jail begins to take a new prescription drug with unforeseen consequences.

    While the film looks a little more like Contagion than Magic Mike, Soderbergh’s cast of regulars have continually proven they do excellent work with the filmmaker. Definitely one to keep an eye on. When we spoke with Tatum earlier in the year, he was downplaying the role. “Yeah, I ‘m going to do a little two-week part on his next thing with Rooney Mara and Jude Law”.

  • Review: Magic Mike

    Review: Magic Mike

    The winning combination of Steven Soderbergh and Channing Tatum continues in this layered and impeccably acted piece. The flawless choreography on the stripping sequences doesn’t hurt either.

    [stextbox id=”grey” caption=”Magic Mike (2012)” float=”true” align=”right” width=”200″]

    Magic Mike poster - Australia

    Director: Steven Soderbergh

    WriterReid Carolin

    Runtime: 110 minutes

    StarringChanning Tatum, Matthew Mcconaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Matt Bomer, Riley Keough, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez , Gabriel Iglesias

    Distributor: Roadshow Films

    CountryUS

    Rating (?)Highly Recommended  (★★★★)

    More info

    [/stextbox]

    Everybody has to start somewhere, and actor/producer Channing Tatum certainly did more that wait tables on his road to stardom. It’s now widely known that Tatum worked several odd jobs after dropping out of college, including an eight-month stint as a stripper under the name “Chan Crawford”. Encouraged by director Steven Soderbergh, who he had previously worked with on Haywire (2011), Tatum has helped writer Reid Carolin craft his own origin story into a semi-autobiographical tale that is refreshing honest and (mostly) free of sensationalism.

    Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) lives in Tampa, working a series of menial tasks to earn enough money to realise his dream of a custom furniture company. He meets Adam (Alex Pettyfer) on one such job, and recognising something special, introduces ‘The Kid’ to his nightlife and a job as a stripper for manager Dallas (Matthew Mcconaughey). In turn, Mike meets Adam’s sister Brooke (Cody Horn), and begins to realise that his life may not be everything he always dreamed of.

    Two decades and over twenty films after sex, lies and videotape (1989), Soderbergh shifts his gaze on male sexuality and identity from middle-class Louisiana to the nearby Florida. On the surface, Soderbergh’s latest outing could be cynically viewed as an attempt to exploit the reverse objectification of well-oiled men. Yet Magic Mike is a ‘stripper’ film about as much as Boogie Nights (1998)  is a ‘porn’ film. Set against an exotic and still somewhat taboo world, despite its mass consumption by men and women alike, Carolin’s screenplay uses the background to explore the far more interesting characters that populate that world. Like Paul Thomas Anderson’s ensemble, this dysfunctional family sails together on the same sinking ship, forever fated to travel on their singular path until somebody hops off.

    The suitably endearing Pettyfer is the analogue for Tatum’s own experiences, and is perhaps a parallel version of him, still caught in a starry-eyed spectacle of the vampiric lifestyle. Tatum himself continues to impress in one of his most down-to-earth and sincere performances to date, albeit one that involves some spectacularly staged semi-nude dance sequences. His relationship with Horn’s character, one in which neither will admit a mutual attraction, is tentative but never juvenile. Horn and Internet celebrity Olivia Munn, who plays Brooke’s opposite number in the more flirtatious Joanna, offer Mike flip sides of a coin, making for a far more intriguing love triangle than most romances. Yet it is McConaughey at his extroverted best that steals the show, reveling every moment on stage and in front of the camera, not even attempting to restrain his manic persona.

    (L-r) ALEX PETTYFER as Adam/The Kid and MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY as Dallas in Warner Bros. Pictures’ dramatic comedy “MAGIC MIKE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo by Claudette Barius

    Following the multi-narrative, hyperlinked style that Soderbergh used to mixed results in Contagion and Haywire, it is pleasing to see the filmmaker return to a more straightforward mix of drama and spectacle, playing to his strengths as a keen observer of intimate human interaction.  That the impressively staged dance numbers and casual sexual encounters are as beautifully orchestrated and shot as the Tampa locations is the cherry on top.

    Magic Mike is released in Australia on 26 July 2012 from Roadshow Films.

  • SFF 2012 Review: Side By Side

    SFF 2012 Review: Side By Side

    An insightful and candid investigation into the film versus digital debate, one with no clear winners but a lots of strong opinions from industry heavyweights. 

    [stextbox id=”grey” caption=”Side By Side (2012)” float=”true” align=”right” width=”200″]

    SFF 2012 Logo

    Side By Side poster

    DirectorChris Kenneally

    Writer(s)Chris Kenneally

    Runtime: 99 minutes

    StarringKeanu Reeves, Lena Dunham, Greta GerwigRichard LinklaterGeorge Lucas, David LynchDonald McAlpineChristopher Nolan, Wally PfisterRobert RodriguezMartin ScorseseSteven Soderbergh, Lars Von Trier

    FestivalSydney Film Festival 2012

    Distributor: TBA

    Country: US

    Rating (?): Highly Recommended (★★★★)

    More info

    [/stextbox]

    By the 1990s, the consumerisation and improved workflows associated with digital video heralded it as something of a democratic liberation for emerging filmmakers. While earlier debates on the format could easily be solved by its visible inferiority to film, developments in digital cinema have polarised the industry. The question is increasingly not one of whether filmmakers should convert to digital, but when they should. Spinning out of this is the broader idea of whether something should be done just because it can, and what impact does digitisation have for the longevity of the medium. Under the guidance of documentarian Chris Kenneally, actor and producer Keanu Reeves talks to some of the biggest names in film to find out what the current state of play is.

    Side By Side demonstrates that the argument is at its height, and despite technical arguments for digital’s superiority, many of the players react on gut instinct. One of film’s biggest proponents in the film camp is blockbuster director Christopher Nolan, who together with regular cinematographer Wally Pfister, make a strong case for the “feel” of film and why they see it as the superior format. Big players George Lucas and James Cameron naturally declare film “dead”, with film no longer able to keep up with the vision of their productions.

    By taking these arguments and placing them side by side, it’s evident that not everybody is excited by the switch to digital, even though it represents a new way of telling stories for people. David Lynch, in some of the more unintentionally hilarious moments in the film, tells Keanu not to quote him, but he’s probably through with film due to the immediacy of digital. For Robert Rodriguez, it’s about creating worlds he could never achieve on film, such as with Sin City. Lena Dunham, indie filmmaker and star of TV’s Girls, argues that she never would have attempted to make Tiny Furniture if she hadn’t had access to rough and ready technology like the Canon 5D consumer level cameras.

    The strengths of the documentary lie in its impartiality (to a point), allowing an impressive ensemble of filmmakers to discuss their choices. Steven Soderbergh, actress Greta Gerwig, Richard Linklater, Andy and Lana Wachowski, Australian cinematographer Donald McAlpine, Vilmos Zsigmond and Lars Von Trier are just some of the names that  Kenneally has assembled, and for the most part they are allowed to be frank and passionately honest about their thoughts on the digital revolution. Coupled with some hand info-graphics and set visits to explain how this will change the way films are made, Reeves’ access to this level of talent, and his own involvement in the interviews, makes for far more provocative discussions than one would expect.

    Side By Side doesn’t come to any startling conclusions, but it offers up a series of arguments. While Steven Soderbergh suggests that he wants to call up film and tell it that he’s met someone else, Martin Scorsese, the person to refer to for all things, is more pragmatic: “The issue is it’s different. How is it different, and how do you use it to tell a story? It’s up to the filmmaker”.

    Side By Side played at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2012.

  • Trailer Revealed for Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike

    Trailer Revealed for Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike

    Magic Mike PosterWarner Bros. (via iTunes Trailers and Roadshow Films) has released the first trailer for Magic Mike, starring Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer and Matthew McConaughey.

    A dramatic comedy set in the world of male strippers, Magic Mike is directed by Academy Award®-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) and stars Channing Tatum in a story inspired by his real life. The film follows Mike (Tatum) as he takes a young dancer called The Kid (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing and schools him in the fine arts of partying, picking up women, and making easy money.

    We interviewed Channing Tatum about the role back in February, where you can read his full thoughts on working with Soderbergh, his days as a stripper and his upcoming projects with the director.

    Magic Mike will be released in Australia on 26 July 2012 from Roadshow Films.

  • Exclusive: Channing Tatum on Magic Mike, The Bitter Pill and Steven Soderbergh

    Exclusive: Channing Tatum on Magic Mike, The Bitter Pill and Steven Soderbergh

    21 Jump Street poster - AustraliaChanning Tatum and Jonah Hill were in Sydney this week promoting the release of Sony’s very funny 21 Jump Street next month, and we were lucky enough to sit down with the two of them and chat about the film and their future projects. Here is a sample of that interview.

    Tatum talks about working with Steven Soderbergh, and his forthcoming collaborations with him, Magic Mike, based on his experiences as a stripper, and The Bitter Pill.

    We need to thank Sony for the opportunity to talk to the stars, and of course Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill for their time. Also present on the round table were Matt Pejkovic from MattsMovieReviews, Cam Williams of PopcornJunkies, Jessica Chandra of PopSugar and Jorge Duran of Spotlight Report. We will post the full interview closer to the release date.

    21 Jump Street is released in Australia on 15 March 2012 from Sony.

    On Steven Soderbergh

    “I’ve found somebody in a way that I can honestly say that I’ve never worked with anyone on a directorial level that is more collaborative than he is. To be someone that has made as many movies, and as many great movies, as he has, he doesn’t have to be.  He really doesn’t, but I think that’s one of his biggest strengths is that he empowers you – as an actor, as a set designer, as a grip, as a costume designer – to literally take it and run with it”.

    “The character I play in Haywire is written very straight…very underdeveloped character. I showed up and I had kind of an idea of what I wanted to do with the idea of him and I just threw out an idea, and he’s like ‘Great, let’s see what that looks like’. There was no questions of like ‘Ok, how do you want to do that?’, he was just…go and do it. So we sort of shaped it from there. It’s unbelievable, I don’t know of any other director I’ve worked with that has that much freedom and sort of self-assured hand with everything, and knows he’s going to find his way through it”.

    Magic Mike - Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum and Joe Mangianello

    On Magic Mike

    When asked about the projects he is most looking forward to, he answered Magic Mike without hesitation. “It’s something that we totally generated ourselves. We’ll always do movies where you’ll jump into a character somebody else has created and be an actor for hire, but it’s just been so special in a way to start it and build it yourself”.

    “Then we did something in a way that’s not taboo, but it’s not done a lot. Soderbergh…and I financed it ourselves. We paid for the movie, we put our own skin in the game. We wanted to make it in a way that nobody else could effect what the outcome of the film was. That doesn’t ever happen. Very rarely can you ever make a movie, and not have it be compromised because of what the studios are telling you to do to make money. It’s been odd and kind of interesting do that and have a bunch of different hats on, but it’s just been my favourite thing in the world because we have so much freedom”.

    Tatum also spoke about how he came to be involved with the project, and what its current status is: “He called me from Haywire, and I was like ‘I don’t even need to read it’. Whatever. Just tell me where to show up and I did. Over a beer after work on Haywire, when I told him I was a stripper for eight months of my life he laughed his ass off and he was like ‘That would make a great movie’. And I was, yeah I want to make a movie one day. He was like ‘You should write it’ and I was ‘Yeah, I’ll get right on it, Mr. Soderbergh’”, he says laughingly. “Let me start writing. I don’t know how to write”.

    “Then cut to like six, seven months later, where me and my business partner Reid Carolin, he wrote it, we financed it, produced it, acted it in. It’s cool. We’re almost done with it now”.

    On The Bitter Pill [Update – Renamed: Side Effects]

    Channing didn’t give much information on the role, but we know that his part is a quick shoot: “Yeah, I ‘m going to do a little two-week part on his next thing with Rooney Mara and Jude Law”.

    Look for more of this interview in the week 21 Jump Street opens.

  • Review: Contagion

    Review: Contagion

    [stextbox id=”grey” caption=”Contagion (2011)” float=”true” align=”right” width=”200″]

    Contagion -  Australian poster

    Director: Steven Soderbergh

    Runtime: 106 minutes

    Starring: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fisburne, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Elliott Gould, Gwyneth Paltrow

    Distributor: Roadshow

    Country: US

    Rating: Worth a Look (?)

    More info [/stextbox]

    When he isn’t making Oceans Eleven films, auteur Steven Soderbergh is quietly taking over every genre on the Hollywood playlist. Seemingly putting out a new film every few months, the last few years have seen the director tackle revolution epic (the two-part Che), erotic drama (The Girlfriend Experience) and satirical comedy (The Informant!). The well-worn outbreak genre is the latest to gain his attention, and given his reputation it comes with a massive cast of characters and a globe-trotting storyline that traces the spread of an unknown and deadly virus.

    After returning from a trip to Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow, Country Strong) collapses and dies from an unknown virus, and is followed shortly by her son. Husband and father Mitch (Matt Damon, The Adjustment Bureau) must deal with the loss in the wake of what rapidly becomes a global epidemic. Disease control workers, doctors and scientists from organisations around the world – including Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne, TV’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road), Professor Ian Sussman (Elliott Gould) and Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard, Midnight in Paris) – work together, and sometimes against each other, to discover the cure for the plague. Meanwhile, blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law, Sherlock Holmes) rallies his millions of followers to distrust the authorities and demand his version of “the truth”.

    Soderbergh rapidly fills the frame with information, with city populations and figures constantly popping up on screen. For such an (unnecessarily?) enormous cast, weaving together strands as he did with Traffic, Soderbergh does an excellent job in quickly establishing why each component is important to the whole, and a few rapid dispatches of characters also reaffirm the threat that the virus poses. Contagion is first and foremost a thriller, and it follows in the grand tradition of the US television procedurals E.R. and CSI in cooly explaining complex viral behaviour patterns in terms even us non-scientists can understand. This approach is often cold and clinical, especially when Paltrow’s head is casually cracked open during an autopsy, but it leaves no doubt that it is still the virus that is the main villain in this tale.

    Which is why it is frustrating that Soderbergh has once again overcast this film, much as he did with Oceans Thirteen or any of his other recent ensemble pieces. Simply because all of these actors will work with the filmmaker, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they all should – at least not all at once anyway. While Contagion is a slightly more intelligent thriller than most outbreak films, it doesn’t always steer clear of some of the pitfalls of the genre. The large cast is mostly dealt with effectively, but some characters (in particular Elliot Gould’s) disappear without any apparent reason, while others are given extraneous subplots. Cotillard’s character is at one point abducted by villagers demanding that they are first in line for the cure, seemingly added to create an additional sense of urgency, as if a virus that killed 25 million people wasn’t urgent enough.

    Most compelling and simultaneously frustrating is Jude Law’s blogger, who comes the closest to giving the film an agenda. Indeed, Contagion manages to steer clear of politics for the most part, with exception of the tussles between the Department of Homeland Security, the World Health Organization and other vested interests.  Law’s character is thinly drawn, and adopting what seems to be an Australian accent by way of cockney ragamuffin for some reason, but he elicits the most important points from the film. As the virus rapidly turns into not just a physical, but a socially degenerative disease, he illustrates how quickly panic, and more importantly misinformation, can spread. If this is Soderbergh’s point, Scott Z. Burns’ (The Informant!, The Bourne Ultimatum) script makes it a laboured one, albeit wrapped inside a frequently taut thriller.

    [stextbox id=”custom”]Contagion is asolid procedural of an outbreak film, occasionally marred by superFLUous storyline and odd tangents. Definitely not a great date movie: nobody will want to touch another human being after seeing this film.[/stextbox]

    Contagion is released on 20 October 2011 in Australia from Roadshow Films.