Review of Outbreak (1995) by Spangle — 23 Jul 2017

While Wolfgang Petersen may not be the best director of all-time, it is likely impossible to argue that his films are anything less than entertaining. A seemingly chaotic mess of incredibly premises, briefly strong realizations of those premises, and then a descent into cliches that place it strongly in the time period in which it was released, watching a Petersen film is a unique experience. It is like going into a time capsule to see how people from that year really lived and how films were made. Enter Outbreak. A precursor to films such as Contagion, Outbreak is about the spread of a virus from Zaire to America that threatens to wipe out the country in a matter of 48 hours. With a man known for taking chances and going against orders while being rogue/insubordinate regularly, his wife who is divorcing him due to his off-the-cuff style, a goofy assistant who dies part way through, a gung ho newcomer ready to save the day but still too green to be essential, and a military general antagonist, Outbreak is such a mid-1990s film, it almost hurts to watch. Fortunately, under the guidance of Petersen, he turns this quintessentially 1990s slice of cinema into a largely thrilling and engaging enterprise in spite of its flaws.

In writing about Outbreak, it is nearly impossible to gloss over the incredible cast at hand. Starring Dustin Hoffman as Doctor and Colonel Sam Daniels, Morgan Freeman as his boss, Rene Russo as his wife, Kevin Spacey as his assistant, Cuba Gooding Jr. as another assistant, Donald Sutherland as a Major General and Freeman's boss, and Patrick Dempsey as the idiot that spreads the virus, Outbreak is a film with a truly stacked cast. Across the board, the group can get a bit hammy and over-the-top at times but is largely as reliable as one would anticipate. That is a great thing for Outbreak considering how bad the dialogue can often become. Stilted, awkward, and seemingly impossible to have roll off the tongue, this group of Academy Award nominee/winning and/or veteran actors really power through this sloppy script and breathe life into every line. Somehow, watching this bunch go through a sea of cliches, plot conveniences, bloat, and terrible dialogue, remains watchable because of who is acting it all out.

As with any Wolfgang Petersen film, Outbreak manages to really grab viewers by the scruff of the neck and entertain you at all turns. A thrilling experience, Outbreak's haunting and ominous presence with dire predictions around every corner makes for a truly engaging watch. Anchored by assured direction from Petersen who knows his way around a thriller and a typically solid score from James Newton Howard, Outbreak is a film that may be cliched and contrived, but never ceases to be anything less than an entertaining and exciting film. The highlight of this element largely comes in the lab as the team works to identify this virus. What is it? What does it do? What brought it here? What stops it? These are all questions the film has somewhat revealed prior to the doctors piecing it together, but watching them piece together the clues and study the virus is unexpectedly gripping. Petersen paces these scenes terrifically and sprinkles them freely throughout the film. Always ominous and filled with tension, these scenes are where the film really lives up to the potential of its premise and also where the actors are given the best material work with.

Had the film focused solely on this element, it would have been a far tighter and engaging experience. Unfortunately, the film is often quite bloated. While perhaps not that lengthy, there is a shot in Zaire where the camera focuses on a witch doctor doing some sort of ritual. Later, Colonel Daniels asks to speak with the witch doctor only to learn he cannot. The film never comes back to this issue, in spite of dedicating a shot and a specific line of dialogue to him that further called attention to his presence. While perhaps not the most crucial moment, it does hint at the fact that Outbreak could have used another pass through in the editing room. There is some fat to trim here that did little else than extend its running time. A dogfight scene over the forests of suburban California is another source of love handles on the film with Sutherland's Major General McClintock going a tad bit rogue. Overlong with horrifically bad special effects, the scene is both implausible (how could this ever actually happen?) and unnecessary. It is a shot in the arm of unearned and laughably implausible tension that never justifies its presence in the film.