Contagion 2004 Horror Movie Review

Yes, CONTAGION has some really incredulous dialogue and plot holes the size of the Grand Canyon, but for me it was a guilty pleasure.  The movie knew how to push all the right emotional buttons; the president was stoically heroic; the virologist heroically sacrificial; the little boy hopelessly cute; the female villain deliciously over the top; and a scenario that although not expertly developed, still frightening in its implications.  Bruce Boxleitner in a Bill Clinton impersonation plays the President who is assaulted by a crazed virologist and her partner, and given the Ebola virus, but a different strain that can be deadly even airborne.  The President, his aides and a lot of patients are quarantined at an urgent care hospital and the villains demand a hundred million dollars or the president will die.  Pretty far-fetched at times, but the scriptwriters knew enough to make us feel the tragedy of some of the deaths, but the Secret Service agents are refreshingly heroic and believable, even if the over the top general out to be president, is too incredible to be convincing.  Jeffrey Combs of REANIMATOR fame adopts a combination Polish/Irish accent, but it’s good to see this unusual actor at work; Lin Shaye is demonic as the scorned Dr. Crowley; and Megan Gallagher is convincing as the virologist.  The pace is appropriate, and despite its many implausibilities, I found myself involved in the film.