Contact
IN THEATERS NOW
Rating: PG
Review Date: 7-16-97
Studio site: Contact
Stars: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, James Woods, John
Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Angela Bassett
Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) is a dreamer. Ever since she was young she
tried to make contact with others via radio and watched how far her signals
would travel from her Wisconsin home. She dreamed of someday communicating
with distant planets which eventually led her to becoming a doctor and
continuing her search with much larger equipment. She still dreams of finding
that far off signal that would talk to her.
Ellie's travels take her to many places and eventually land her in New
Mexico where on the verge of her program shutting down she finds a signal.
Could it be contact with another race of people? And if it is contact,
just what exactly are the messages saying? That is the backdrop for Contact,
the new Robert Zemeckis film. Mr. Zemeckis takes us on a thought provoking
journey through the possible discovery of life in outer space. Zemeckis
knows how to interweave actual footage with his characters (e.g. Forrest
Gump) and he uses it to help tell us the story of what this historic
situation might be like.
Jodie Foster is magnificent as Ellie. Foster always illuminates the screen
in her projects, and she knows how to pick them. She is both vulnerable
and assertive at the same time without looking corny in her role. Of all
of the "A-list" actresses in Hollywood, who better can take on this complex
sometimes tomboyish role. She is both electric and down to earth as she
struggle with some very complex questions including what it means to stop
being a scientist and use "blind faith" from time to time.
I loved Matthew McConaughey in A Time to Kill, but his character here was
almost not needed. An early love scene between Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey)
and Ellie seemed just out of place in this film. Though there is virtually
nothing seen in the scene other than the two lying in bed together, it
just seemed like an artificial attempt to create a link between the two.
Palmer is used to mostly inject the theological view into things, and that
view and his actions tend to run counter to most theological perspectives
and numerous points.
The supporting cast is fantastic in this film. James Woods as the hypersensitive
governmental man Michael Kitz, Tom Skerritt as the Ellie's boss David Drumlin,
John Hurt as the eccentric, rich funding source S.R. Hadden, as well as
Angela Bassett, Rob Lowe, and help to create the exciting backdrop for
Zemeckis' telling of the story. Established actors turning in fine supporting
roles usually leads to quality movies and this is no exception.
Though Contact seems slow and dry at times, Zemeckis has managed
to craft one of the most thought provoking movies I have seen since Schindler's
List. What is out there? The battle between the extremists of both
sides is seen in this film and it seems to me to be a logical pattern of
events that would take place if we were to think we discovered life on
other planets. The film makes you think about "faith" and what it really
means. Some scientists are in the same mindset as Ellie and need empirical
data to believe in anything. Still other folks are more like Palmer and
realize that faith is intertwined in our society in every single thing
that we do. Who's to say there isn't life out there? And who's to say that
if there is life, that life wasn't created by God as well as our lives?
Contact makes us think, and in a summer of action non-thinking blockbusters
it is a welcome relief.
Contact is not on par with Schindler's List and I do think
there have been better movies. But if you want to leave a theater and have
a stimulating, thought-provoking conversation; this is your film.
Grade: A-
Parents Guide: Contact is a thought provoking film and there is
a lot of discussion both positive and negative about faith. The PG rating
is simply for some mild language and the controversial subject matter.
But there is virtually nothing too objectionable in this film. However
because it is thought provoking, there is a good deal of topics for discussion
that emerge. Though there are fanatical extremeists portrayed on all issues
in the film it does provide a springboard to talk together about why we
are "one nation under God" and why faith is such an important aspect of
our society today.