Outbreak (1995)

Film of 2012 #45

Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Cuba Gooding Jnr and an Infected monkey, what is not to like about this film? If you have seen the recent Contagion which I looked at here, then this is the predecessor to that done on a different scale. It takes the idea of a monkey illegally brought into the country and given to Patrick Dempsey and subsequently released into the wild and the fact that this monkey carries a highly infectious, highly deadly disease that through the course of a serious of unfortunate events goes airborne and spreads through a small US town. You follow Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo a recently separated couple, he works for the Army and she is at the Centre of Disease Control and they are both involved in doing the same job, identifying, curing and controlling Infectious diseases.

This is small scale compared to Contagion as it focuses on a small town and only a few characters and does not explore the larger implications but does have a slight feel of the Crazies as you see a lot from the military's point of view and the lengths they are willing to go to contain the disease. You have an excellent supporting cast with Donald Sutherland, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey. Another film that has flaws and falls in to the trap of if you think about the timescales too much you realise it is a movie based requirement to make the timescales impossible and the likelihood of success impossible which makes it more tense and exciting from a film watching perspective but logical brains cannot always accept this and just think of as ridiculous.

I enjoy this and wish that Cuba Gooding Jnr had done more roles like this as he is really likeable and I always want him to succeed in whatever role he is in. This film in itself is good if you like the idea of an outbreak and seeing where it can spread to and if you enjoyed Contagion it is worth revisiting this film which I give a 3 star recommend.

Contagion (2011)

Film of 2012 #44

The Stephen Soderbergh ensemble piece starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishbourne, Kate Winslet, Jude law and a multitude of other characters. It takes a look at the impact of a deadly global pandemic and what would happen within society if such a thing was to happen in our world. It is very clever in a lot of ways as it mixes the small story following people such as the Matt Damon character who is just trying to survive with his daughter and cope with what is going on around him but just trying to survive without needing to know what is happening. You have the Laurence Fishbourne character as the lead American trying to find a cure and to also track what the disease is and where it came from. The Jude Law character is a blogger that is popular enough that he takes an on line lead in exposing what he sees is happening, his character goes on an interesting story.

This is a difficult story to tell as they are telling it from so many angles and there are a lot of details that need to be picked up to get all of the points they are trying to make. Paying attention is well worth it and I think that on a re-watch this film will be quite interesting to see if you can catch all of the references. I think the way it is sewn together you are not bothered by any story lines, there is none I was thinking, too much time on that person what is happening with such and such. So it shows that the pacing is excellent and they got the split across each of the stories really good.

I have heard lots of good things about this film and can only really add my recommendation to the pile, it is 4 stars and well worth seeing. If you get the chance to watch it or have seen it then let me know what you thought of it, do you agree with me or am I wrong.