You know, I watched Another Earth immediately after finishing Contagion, and the contrast between their presentations of scientific material was stark. (to be polite, Another Earth makes up for its scientifically ludicrous premise and justifications in other, more dramatic aspects)
This was truly a labor of love by the master auteur, Steven Soderbergh. The film flitters between either presenting a panicky atmosphere or a paranoid one, depending on the setting and character. It was an entertaining watch, and a masterfully produced thriller, and on that alone it is worth watching.
The degree of realism is also a very compelling facet of the picture, this dimension of constraint almost singularly makes the movie. There aren't ready made vaccines or impact projections that the CDC can just pluck from thin air, and the movie does a wonderful job at spelling out the reality of just how fragile our contingency plan as a collective race is.
An extremely entertaining movie with a message both powerful and real makes Contagion one of the better movies of 2011.