Movie Reviews: 'Contagion' and 'I Don't Know How She Does It'

You're in luck this week! You get TWO movie reviews from me.  One is worth seeing, and the other... well, wait for it to air on cable.

Friday, September 16th 2011, 4:12 pm

By: News 9


LaShauna Sewell, News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY – You're in luck this week! You get TWO movie reviews from me.  One is worth seeing, and the other... well, wait for it to air on cable.

I start with a warning about "Contagion": Do not see this movie if you are a serious germaphobe. There's a good chance you will never leave your house again. Remember the 1995 movie "Outbreak" that showed the spreading of a deadly virus through gross germs spewing through the air and infected monkeys dying grotesquely? There's none of that in "Contagion," and that's what makes it even scarier.

Beth Emhoff (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) is Patient Zero. This contagious, deadly disease all starts with her. We watch as her every day activities lead to a global epidemic.

Here's the thing that's so frightening about "Contagion." Paltrow's character isn't walking up to people and coughing in their faces. She's not spitting in their drinks. She's not having sexual contact with them (well, okay, except once. And her partner pays a pretty high price for adultery. Score one for monogamy!). The character is doing things we do every day; hugging her child, paying for meals, flying on an airplane. Those simple things spread a deadly virus around the world in just a few months.

I thought this movie was great. I immediately left the theater, went to Walgreens and bought two bottles of hand sanitizer, but I still thought the movie was great. Go see it!

I give it 4 out 5 movie candies. "Contagion" is rated PG-13.

Okay, on to "I Don't Know How She Does It." The movie is based on a book by the same name. I don't know why Sarah Jessica Parker made this movie. It's not horrible, but it's not good, either.

SJP plays Kate Reddy, a woman who passionately loves both her family and her job. She's married with two kids, and works as some sort of finance executive. She already travels a lot for work, but her workload becomes almost overwhelming she lands a big project working with Jack Abelhammer (played by that eternal hottie Pierce Brosnan).

I'm not married and I don't have kids, but I don't have to be hit over the head with a bat to know it hurts. Being a mom is tough. I have a lot of respect for stay-at-home moms and those who work outside the home because they do a juggling act every day. But in my opinion, SJP's character comes off a bit whiny in this movie. Plus, I've never met anyone who loves going to work every day as much as Kate Reddy does. About every ten minutes she talks about how much she LOVES her job. I really enjoy working at News 9 and I love my colleagues, but come weekends and vacation time I am outta here without a backward glance, a second thought or one ounce of guilt (should I have written that? Let me reiterate to all my bosses how much I enjoy my work and my steady paycheck!).

Bottom line about "I Don't Know How She Does It": It's hard for me not to think about Carrie Bradshaw when watching SJP. She'll always represent "Sex and the City" to me. If she wants to break out of that iconic New Yorker role, she's going to have to find better material than this. Again, it's not horrible but it's completely forgettable. The best thing about this movie was Oklahoman Olivia Munn. She plays SJP's colleague and she's hilarious. She steals every scene she's in. I hope Munn's next TV show works out because she's very funny.

"I Don't Know How She Does It" gets 2.5 movie candies out of 5. The movie is rated PG-13.

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