Contagion

The Flick: Contagion

The Peeps: Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, John Hawkes, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, etc.

The Dealio: In the beginning, Paltrow's Beth is cheating on her husband(Damon). She is travelling to Hong Kong on business and 'picks up' with an ex. She is already exhibiting symptoms of some sort of flu-like thaang- coughing, runny eyes and achiness- which she dismisses as jet lag. And then the bods start to pile up: people going about their daily lives- peeps who, on the surface, have nothing to do with each other- are dropping over, then dropping dead. And so it goes. Wot's the dealio?! In a race to discover what all these clusters have to do with each other, scientists- Cotillard, Fishburne and Winslet, as well as Law's journalist/blogger- begin to look into the background of those who were the first to bite the dust. And, what do we discover? Nothing simple, that's fer shur.

The Grading Session: 4.1 pengies out of 5. Too much left unresolved, too much creepiness, too ambitious, without living up to the potential of what seemed to me like a lesser Crichton tale.

Notable Quotables: 'But, we're not sick! We're healthy!' "So, we're sorry, but she didn't make it. Despite our best efforts." 'OK. So, when can I talk to her?'

Lessons Learned: Here's the biggie: WASH YOUR HANDS. Also this: it's OK to feel paranoid, if everyone around you is kicking the bucket. For further advice, please see lessons learned, #1.