Just a few months ago director Steven Soderbergh delivered a deadly virus to half of Hollywood in "Contagion." Now he takes mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano and plucks her in a twisty revenge tale about backstabbing covert operatives.

It isn't at all like your typical action adventure. True to Soderbergh's indie spirit, "Haywire" is a methodical and sparse affair sprinkled only occasionally with Carano's impressive fighting skills. That approach, however, is hindered by a convoluted plot and paper-thin characterizations.

Carano plays a top-of-her-game operative who works secret missions for Kenneth (Ewan McGregor, with a shifty-looking haircut). Told out of sequence, the film begins with Carano's Mallory Kane already on the run when she meets up with another operative (Channing Tatum). Their unfriendly encounter sets the stage for a series of flashbacks, where Mallory is sent to rescue a hostage in Barcelona, then off to another mission that leads to double cross.

Soderbergh simplifies the frequent jumps in time and location with specific color schemes for each timeline, a tactic he notably used in his Oscar-winning film, "Traffic." The tactic is abandoned in the second half when "Haywire" becomes more of a traditional thriller.

Unlike most action movies these days, Soderbergh shoots the brutal fight scenes in long, wide shots. It's a showcase for Carano's abilities and a nice change of pace from the shaky, in-your-face style that appears in every Jason Statham adventure.

"Haywire" comes with a stacked supporting cast, including Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas and Michael Fassbender. Unfortunately, nobody really has any screen time to make an impression. Tatum and McGregor have more scenes but show little personality.

Carano's acting abilities in quieter scenes proves to be less-than-compelling. Her stiff line-readings don't help an already clunky script. At least her fight scenes are a blast to watch.

"Haywire," like "Contagion" and a lot of Soderbergh's movies, has a lot of interesting sequences and ideas. It's the pacing and story fluidity that continues to elude him. Still, an uneven Soderbergh film is more than what can be expected this time of year.

Grade: B-

What about those Oscar nominations?

The Academy Award nominations, announced Tuesday, yielded a fair number of surprises, most notably the inclusion of "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" in the Best Picture race. With a 47 percent rating on RottenTomatoes.com and a 46 percent consensus at Metacritic.com, it will go down as one of the worst-reviewed Best Picture nominees in Oscar's history.

How'd it happen? Oscar's preferential voting process favors passionate support. A movie must garner a certain percentage of first place votes to make it into the big race. Obviously, the people who actually liked "Extremely Loud" really, really liked it.

There were other, better surprises to be found in the nominations, notably the inclusion of "Tree of Life" in the Best Picture race, and Gary Oldman nabbed his first and long-overdue nomination (Best Actor for "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy").

You can currently see all nine Best Picture nominees in North Idaho: "The Artist," "The Descendants," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," "Hugo" and "War Horse" are all playing at local theaters, while "The Help," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball" and "The Tree of Life" are now available on home video.

Ticket Stubs is sponsored by the Hayden Cinema Six Theater. Showtimes at www.HaydenCinema6.com. Tyler Wilson can be reached at [email protected].