“Outbreak” is 25 years old, on Netflix and really isn’t about the coronavirus

Before its 25th anniversary on March 10 and people started staying at home before the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread, Outbreak was already on Netflix streaming. Nowadays, the Wolfgang Petersen movie is now on 5th most popular on Netflix as people are watching in their houses. 

It would be fun to look back on Outbreak anyway. Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo play Army and CDC doctors respectively with a cast including Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Patrick Dempsey and Donald Sutherland. Now that we’re living through an outbreak, there’s more interest but it’s important to remember it’s still just a movie.

There are broad strokes of science in Outbreak. Somewhere between Armageddon (movie with Bruce Willis and directed by Michael Bay) dismissing actual scientific measurements to declare the rock like “the size of Texas” and actual scientific procedures lies Outbreak. It does show how a disease can spread through human contact. In this case, it comes from an animal, so the monkey spits on Jimbo (Dempsey) and scratches Rudy (Daniel Chodos) the pet store owner.

The Motaba virus has a 24 hour cycle. That’s good for cinema because the scientists can see symptoms immediately. The coronavirus takes days and weeks to manifest and people carrying it can be asymptomatic.

Coronavirus has spread beyond a single town, and it’s unlikely the military will be flying helicopters and launching missiles to keep people in their homes. If you can separate the fiction from real contagions, Outbreak is a perfectly fun movie to watch on Netflix. If it’s still too close to home, there are plenty of other viewing options until this all blows over.

Hope u like it. 

xoxoxo 

ME

CHARACTER IN FOCUS: Lilly Raines, "In the Line of Fire" (1993)

Lilly Raines in her office... (photo credits: Columbia Pictures)

For the first time in movies, male Secret Service Agents work with women, and that happens in the movie In the Line of Fire (1993), with Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood, great in Dirty Harry movies, Gran Torino, Million Dollar Baby, and others) and Lilly Raines (Rene Russo). 
Rene's Lilly Raines in this movie has a double function: as a Secret Service associate and a lover. Even Frank and Ms. Raines had a difficult start together, during the movie their relationship began to concretize when Mr. Horrigan said to himself: "If she looks back, that's means she's interested."

Rene Russo all eyes on Clint Eastwood: sexiness and seduction
is on her way. (photo credits: Columbia Pictures)

And also during the movie, Frank and Lilly's conversation were all about jazz, work, strategy and mainly romance. For movie critic Roger Ebert, it looked like a real conversation between real people. And thanks to Lilly, she saved Frank from the killer Mitch Leary (John Malkovich), who was thrown up high in the elevator. 

And the ending was like a fairytale ending.... Lilly ended happily with Frank. #verycute. 

Lilly Raines' first impressions about Frank: only enchantment.
(photo credits: Columbia Pictures)

According to Ms. Russo, in 2014.... "Well, first of all, he was the only actor I've ever been intimidated by. We were being driven to set together, I don't know why. It usually doesn't happen. But I was in the car, and I just didn't know what to say to him. I was blathering on about nothing. I mean, talk about embarrassing. 'Blah blah blah blah blah' — and he did not say one word. He's wonderful. [But] he did not say one word. 

We made a pact. I eat garlic and he eats garlic. And so we promised each other that we would both eat garlic, so we would cancel each other out, and we wouldn't have to give up our garlic. And then I had to come back for the love scene — because there was a period there where I wasn't shooting, and he was. It was about three weeks or a month. And when I came back, I was pregnant (of Rose Gilroy), and I really couldn't eat garlic. So, yeah, that was a really difficult love scene. I mean, I had morning sickness. I was like, Are you going to hold this together here?" 

Rene Russo: concentration and elegance.
(photo credits: Columbia Pictures)

Hope u like it.

loveuguys.

xoxoxo

ME

In the Line of Fire (MOVIE REVIEW)

Poster for the movie In the Line of Fire, starring Clint Eastwood, Rene Russo & John Malkovich.
(photo credits: Columbia Pictures/Castle Rock Entertainment)

Director: Wolfgang Petersen. 

Producer: Jeff Apple. 

Writer: Jeff Maguire.

Main Cast: 

Clint Eastwood ------ Frank Horrigan

John Malkovich ------ Mitch Leary / John Booth / James Carney

Rene Russo ------ Lilly Raines

Dylan McDermott ---- Al D'Andrea 

Gary Cole ------- Bill Watts

John Mahoney --- Sam Campagna

Rene Russo & Clint Eastwood: great chemistry in scene.
(photo credits: Columbia Pictures/Castle Rock Entertainment)

Release Date: July 9, 1993 (USA) / October 22, 1993 (Brazil)

Running Time: 128 min.

Budget / Box office: US$40 million / US$177 million (box office hit success)

Plot Summary: Frank Horrigan (played by actor/director Clint Eastwood) is a veteran Secret Service agent who is close to retirement. He keeps thinking back to November 22, 1963, when we was a hand-picked agent for President John Kennedy, and, became one of the few to lose a president to an assassin after Kennedy's death. 30 years later, the USA President is the target of former CIA assassin Mitch Leary (John Malkovich, great in Dangerous Liaisons & Con Air), because the assassin felt betrayed by the government. That's the reason for what Leary plans to kill the president. 

Rene Russo in a wonderful performance as Lilly Raines.
(photo credits: Columbia Pictures/Castle Rock Entertainment)

Later, Mr. Horrigan and his partner, Al D'Andrea (Dylan McDermott, from Hamburger Hill & Steel Magnolias) go to the White House meet the other agents, the director Sam Campagna (John Mahoney, from Frasier); Bill Watts (Gary Cole), a young assistant; and Lilly Raines (Rene Russo), the female agent of the Secret Service team, who is enchanted by Frank, and vice-versa. And that is proved when Mr. Horrigan takes Ms. Raines to the Lincoln Memorial, and both eat an ice cream.  He says to her that he believes that female agents work in the Service simply because the President wishes to court the female vote throughout the country. By the time Lilly walks away, Frank thinks to himself: "If she looks back, that means she's interested."

By the movie goes by, Horrigan suspects that Leary uses lot of false identities, such as Joseph McCrawley, John Booth and James Carney, and the assassin makes lots of victims, including Al.

The ending, in my opinion, is fantastic, and it happens in Los Angeles. Leary, now as James Carney, points his plastic gun at Frank, who tries to save the president, but who ended shot was Mr. Horrigan... and everybody ran away. After that, the killer takes Horrigan to the elevator, up up and away, and what surprised him is that the agent had a bulletproof vest. Agent Raines, with all the agents, witness the scene. 
At the hotel elevator, Leary breaks the glass, and both fight there, and at the end, the killer loses balance until his sudden death, thrown up high in the elevator. And Frank ends the movie happily ever after with Lilly Raines, now acclaimed as a hero (and himself decided to announce his retirement).

Rene Russo: concentration and elegance.
(photo credits: Columbia Pictures/Castle Rock Entertainment)

Fun Facts about the movie:

• Rene Russo and John Malkovich will reunite together 25 years after this movie, in Velvet Buzzsaw, by Dan Gilroy, premiering October 26, on Netflix.
• Also in a Wolfgang Petersen movie, Rene Russo portrayed the main character's love interest/female lead, both in the movies In the Line of Fire (1993) and Outbreak (1995).
• Clint Eastwood (Frank Horrigan) and Dylan McDermott (Al D'Andrea)'s characters used Sig Sauer 9mm pistols (Secret Service weapons).
• Clint is also a professional jazz pianist, that's why he did his own piano scenes in this movie.
• And one of my favorite villians of John Malkovich, along with Con Air (1997), and Dangerous Liaisons (1988). In the movie In the Line of Fire, he improvised the scene when he puts his gun on his mouth.

Critical Reception:

• IMDB: 7,2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 95% (fresh; 96 reviews).
• CinemaScore : A (A+ to F).
• Metascore: 74/100.

Next week, on July 30, I'll talk about Lilly Raines on "Character on Focus"... 

Enjoy this post...

loveuguys.

xoxoxo 

ME

CHARACTER IN FOCUS: Robby Keough, "Outbreak" (1995)

Rene Russo in a scene in Outbreak (photo: Warner Bros Pictures/Peter Sorel)

This is a follow-up for the April 10 post for "Outbreak". Now in this post... I'm going to tell some details about Rene Russo's character in Outbreak, Robby Keough. 

Dustin Hoffman (Col. Sam Daniels, in background, left) with
Rene Russo in "Outbreak" (photo: Peter Sorel/ Warner Bros.
Pictures)

Initially, in the movie "Outbreak", by Wolfgang Petersen (who directed Rene in the movie In the Line of Fire, 1993), Robby Keough, played and defended well by Russo, had a troubled relationship with her ex-husband, Col. Sam Daniels, also played well by Dustin Hoffman (love him in Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man, Tootsie, and other movies), because this is sent to Zaire along with Major Salt (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Casey Shuler (Kevin Spacey). Robby also examined the first people infected by the Ebola virus, Jimbo (Patrick Dempsey) & his girlfriend. 

And also in this movie, there are multiple accidents, one of them envolves Robby, when Casey's suit tears, allowing the Ebola virus to infect him and later, him infecting her. In the end... after the "cure bomb" has dropped in California, Robby was finally cured and she and Daniels resumed their relationship.

According to Rene, in 2014: "It's really weird. We had to go to the CDC, and when I spoke to the epidemiologist, my question was, 'OK, so tell me, what's the deal? Is there going to be [an outbreak]? We've had plagues forever. What's going to happen?' And they said to me, 'It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.' And he wasn't necessarily talking about Ebola. But that freaked me out. I said, 'Well, can I keep my racal suit?!' I mean, I started making plans. I am prepared. I'm not afraid of nuclear whatever — that's fast. But I have to say, [an outbreak] would scare me. I'm not thinking it's going to come get me. I'm not paranoid. But I am prepared.

A couple times I have thought, Would they start closing borders? That's what they did in Outbreak. They started closing borders. There was a lot of panic. But mostly what comes to mind is the epidemiologist telling me, 'It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.' It's so sad, what's going on right now in Africa. It's just hard for me to watch." (Buzzfeed).

Rene in a scene of "Outbreak" (photo credits: Warner Bros. Pictures/Peter Sorel) 

Sources:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/rene-russo-is-finally-back-in-nightcrawler?utm_term=.pjBl73evq#.pqMAaZO2D 

Hope u like it!
Love u guys...
xoxoxo
ME

Outbreak (MOVIE REVIEW)

Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo and Morgan Freeman are part of the main cast
of "Outbreak" (1995), directed by Wolfgang Petersen. (photo credits: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Director: Wolfgang Petersen (he worked with Rene in the movie In the Line of Fire, 1993, but he also was known directing Air Force 1, Troy, Poseidon, among others).

Produced by: Wolfgang Petersen, Gail Katz, Arnold & Arnie Kopelson.

Written by: Laurence Dworet & Robert Roy Pool.

Main Cast: 

- Dustin Hoffman ------- Colonel Sam Daniels

- Rene Russo ------------ Dr. Roberta Keough (Robby)

- Morgan Freeman ------- Brigadier General Billy Ford

- Donald Sutherland ------ Major General Donald McClintock (Donnie)

- Kevin Spacey ------------- Lieutenant Colonel Casey Schuler

- Cuba Gooding Jr. -------- Major Salt

- Patrick Dempsey-------- James Scott (Jimbo)

Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo and Morgan Freeman as Sam, Robby and Billy,
respectively (photo credits: Peter Sorel/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Release Date: March 10, 1995 (USA) / April 7, 1995 (Brazil)
Running time: 128 min.

Budget / Box office: $50 million / $189,8 million. (box office success).
Plot Summary: In the late 60's, a virus called Motaba (which causes a mortal fever) was discovered in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo). To keep this virus a secret, U.S. Army Officers Donnie McClintock (Donald Sutherland) and Billy Ford (Morgan Freeman) destroy the camp where the soldiers where infected.

Some years later, Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman), an USAMRIID virologist, is sent to investigate an outbreak in Zaire. Along with him, were Casey (Kevin Spacey) and Major Salt (Cuba Gooding Jr.) . They gather some information and return to the United States. Ford, now a brigadier general and Daniels' officer, advises that the virus will spread.

The monkey Betsy, host of the virus, is smuggled into the country and sent into Cedar Creek, California. Jimbo Scott (Patrick Dempsey, who recently worked as Derek in Grey's Anatomy), a worker in an animal testing laboratory, is infected when he was stealing the monkey to sell into the black market. After failing and releasing the monkey into the woods to Cedar Creek, Jimbo develops symptoms while flying to Boston, infecting his girlfriend. The illness is investigated by Dr. Robby Keough (Rene Russo), a CDC scientist and Daniels' ex-wife. To end, Jimbo, the pet owner, Alice (Jimbo's girlfriend) die, but Keough concludes that no one else in Boston was infected.

While Ford provides the serum, Daniels realizes he was aware of the virus before the outbreak, and confronts the general that Motaba was a bioweapon and infected the monkey. In the time everyone was dying, Daniel learns about Operation Clean Sweep, and McClintock plans to use the operation to conceal the virus' existence.

The operation starts, Salt and Daniels escape in the helicopter to the ship where Betsy was, and Daniels carries a photo of the monkey to release it to the media. Both discover that a Cedar Creek resident, Mrs. Jeffries (Gina Menza), discovers that her daughter Kate (Kara Keough) was playing with Betsy in the yard... so the CDC was warned about the situation.

Rene Russo as Robby in a scene of "Outbreak" (1995)
(photo credits: Warner Bros. Pictures)

The ending of Outbreak is when Salt and Daniels mixes Betsy's antibodies with Ford's serum to create an anti-serum, saving Robby, while then, Casey died. Donnie was arrested, Daniels and Keough reconcile, and Cedar Creek residents are totally cured.

Fun Facts about the movie:

• This movie, along with an episode from The Simpsons from 1997, predicted the Ebola outbreak in October, 2014.
• Outbreak was the first movie when Rene Russo and Morgan Freeman worked together; the other was recently, in Just Getting Started, some months ago, in December 2017.
• Outbreak was based from the book The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston, also released in 1995.
• The monkey Betsy appeared in the sitcom Friends (1994).
• Scenes in Cedar Creek were filmed in Ferndale, California. 

Critical Reception:

• IMDB: 6,6/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 59% (mixed; 44 critics).
• Metacritic: 65%
• CinemaScore: A - (from A+ to F).

On April 24, I'll write more details about Rene Russo's character, Robby Keough, of Outbreak... 

Hope u like it.

Love u guys...

xoxoxo

ME