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Gwyneth Paltrow: "Contagion"

Situational irony is when *the exact opposite of the expected* occurs.

The cobbler's child has no shoes. The baker's child has no bread. These are examples of situational irony.

One of the greatest cases in film history comes from Soderbergh's "Contagion": Beth is proud of her job, a spot in a major international corporation, a job that affords her great benefits. But, in the final scene of the movie, a flashback, we learn that the hand the feeds Beth is also the hand that kills her. Corporate dealings created a major contagion--the subject of the movie--through deforestation. The international corporation--the great breast you can suck at--is a corporation that commits murder. The power broker's child has no power. Irony!

Black humor: When a scenario is so absurdly distressing, it becomes funny. Beth, ending a bleak phone call about the possible end of the world, says: "Merry Christmas." Matt Damon's character--worried that a nice boy might give his daughter a fatal disease--interrupts a cute courtship scene with a sawed-off shotgun.

Soderbergh breaks so many rules with "Contagion." The thing that happens *first* is actually shown last. Major stars have their own plot "silos," where they tend not to interact with other major stars. (Marion Cotillard is in her own plot world; so, too, Gwyneth Paltrow.) Oscar winners die well before we start Act III: Paltrow, Winslet. A subject who should be sort of angelic, for purposes of plot symmetry, is actually a train-wreck and one-half of an extramarital affair. (Paltrow.)

"Contagion" seems to present itself as sci-fi, or as a thriller, but it's not strictly either of those things. Soderbergh is actually interested in human behavior; he is making a dark farce about the follies of interpersonal conduct. When are people at their strangest? In extreme situations. That's what you're getting here.

I have a feeling anyone who saw this script, and understood that Soderbergh was on-board, wanted a chance to perform. And this is why we get a parade of Oscar winners: Paltrow, Cotillard, Winslet, Damon. And a parade of Oscar nominees: Jude Law, Elliott Gould, John Hawkes, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne. (One wonders who expressed interest and *was turned away* .....)

It's not news to praise this movie, which earned a great deal of buzz a few years ago. But let me remind you it exists. It's a fun, contrarian pick for this cheerful holiday season. It even has a scene with snow angels......Merry belated Christmas to you.....
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