Alien: You're an interesting species, an interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable is each other.
Jodie Foster plays Ellie Arroway, a prominent scientist and radio astronomer for the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) program. Like many scientists, she is an analytical person whose beliefs are entrenched in empirical evidence and testing. For her, science shows us what is and what is not. For example, she doesn't believe in God, because he can not be proven to exist. Dr. Arroway is particularly isolated from the world around her. She is consumed with one interest, which is the possibility of finding intelligent life on another planet. Her academic mentors and colleagues belittle her. Grant money to continue her research is increasingly hard to come by.
Yet she persists in her obsession, listening and monitoring and hoping until one day the payoff comes. Working first at Puerto Rico's Arecibo observatory, budget cuts force her to relocate to the Very Large Array (VLA) of radio telescopes in the remote desert of New Mexico. It is there, along with an ad-hoc team of devoted colleagues, that she detects a signal from the Vega system, some 26 light years away, that was clearly transmitted by an alien intelligence. With the backing of the enigmatic industrialist, S.R. Hadden (John Hurt), she will begin a quest that culminates in the construction of a mysterious machine based on alien blueprints, and embark on a one-woman journey that will have the most profound scientific and spiritual implications for all humankind and especially for her.
Adapted from Carl Sagan's 1985 novel, this piece of science-pseudo fiction concerns itself with the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence, but its focus subsequently becomes a debate between sanctity and science and Ellie's pursuit of her own brand of truth and her trip down the path of enlightenment.
Her quest is hampered by two major obstacles, though. She is faced with a lack of scientific thinking from politicians, who are wary of national security issues. Confronted by a paranoid National Security Advisor (James Woods), Arroway's glory-hogging scientific rival (Tom Skerritt), and a cynical Presidential Advisor (Angela Bassett), Dr. Arroway fights hard to maintain her presence on this ˜ the most important project of her career. The story also sets Dr. Arroway in philosophical opposition to famous spiritual leader and advisor (and pseudo-romantic interest), Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey). He tries to be her spiritual guide and warns her of the implications of making possible contact with a new race when she does not embody the precepts of God and His scriptures. If there's life out there, way out there, does it come thanks to Science or Him? It's an interesting question, but if philosophers, scientists and theologians have been debating this question over the past 1000 years and are still unclear, a movie that attempts to look at the same question will suffer from ambiguity.
Despite a generally poignant look at Foster's journey into space and herself, I can't say that I liked this movie, but I didn't dislike it either. Contact, results in a sobering look at a debate as partisan as abortion or the death penalty. The space ride is just to appease the summer audience who demand to see special effects. The entire movie seems like it could have been 20 minutes shorter if not for all of the flashbacks and the multitude of shots where Dr. Arroway is pondering and staring and pondering and then staring some more. But, I did admire the genuine acting ability of Foster, who shows amazing depth and intelligence. Contact taps into her capacity to show both strength and vulnerability, pensive maturity and doe-eyed girlishness. Time and again, the camera captures Foster face striking subtle emotions as she ponders all of the ramifications of her discovery and her subsequent actions. There is probably no one better for this kind of high-minded, emotional drama than Foster. I also admired the director's attempt (Robert Zemeckis) to blend purposeful storytelling with the movie's lofty goals (but his attempt to digitally meld Clinton into scenes a la Forrest Gump seemed patchwork). Are science and religion equally purposeful methods of seeking reason and truth in a chaotic world? This is a tough question to answer, but is bravely explored in this tale. And, her path towards her particular enlightenment came to a satisfying conclusion.
Contact really puts the 'science' in science-fiction. It is a big, ambitious movie that spans the heavens and debates God and hard science in the same breath. Certainly, this movie will not appeal to everyone but to those who enjoy their movies with a pinch of philosophy, you'll find lots to think about. It didn't necessarily appeal to me , but it did make me go , "Hmmmm…"
By : Homer Yen
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 5
There are many times during this film that are remarkably stunning and completely captivating. For the first time in what seems to be eons, that statement applies to something other than the effects in a big budget science fiction movie. What a relief it is to be fascinated by a film of this genre with the plot and characters and where the aliens and explosions take a back seat to the right stuff.
Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) is nine years old when she is fascinated by the stars and by contacting people in far-away places with her ham radio. As she grows older, she devotes her life to looking for messages from even more distant locales and joins the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project. Convinced that there is someone out there, she spends her time listening to static, hoping for something more.
While waiting for the signal in Puerto Rico, she has time to fall into bed for a brief affair with religious philosopher Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), a "man of the cloth without the cloth". The contrast between the woman of science and the man of god is the archetype for the film's theme.
When the financial rug is pulled out from under SETI, Arroway searches for funding wherever she can find it. She strikes gold with eccentric zillionaire S. R. Hadden (played with gusto by John Hurt). With his money in her back pocket, she rents time on the Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico and years later finally hears what she has been waiting for.
Of course when she announces her discovery, there is a rush by the government to militarize the undertaking and take control. Suddenly the scientist finds herself playing second fiddle to the National Security Advisor (James Woods) and her former mentor David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt) who had pulled the plug on SETI in Puerto Rico.
Deciphering the message from Vega reveals a video signal. (I kept waiting for them to find a new tofu recipe from the Vegans) Piggybacked on the television waves is a blueprint for a transport device for one person to take the trip to the source of the communication. The question becomes who will go.
At a congressional hearing, Joss, who has become a White House spiritual leader, asks the litmus test "Do you believe in God?" Arroway's response is that she hasn't seen proof.
The film is more about that question of faith than it is about aliens. The astronomer's obsessive conviction that life exists somewhere else is not much different from religious certitude. When she has a life-changing experience that she can't explain and has no substantiation for, it reminds us of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. Director Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump") has taken Carl Sagan's novel and borrowed the motifs from "2001" and "Close Encounters" to create one of the finest films around.
He often focuses on media. In one scene Arroway is sending email while talking on the phone and simultaneously receiving a fax: totally wired. Jay Leno, Larry King, Bryant Gumbel and half the CNN crew play themselves on television screens throughout the film. This technique creates the feel that you are watching events as they are actually happening. Unfortunately the couple of morphed-in Bill Clinton scenes pull you out of the story with an "Oh yeah, this is a trick".
Jodie Foster has matured into an accomplished actress. Her superb performance captures the astronomer's emotions with subtle notes. The catch in her voice and breathing flutters when she is frightened are fine touches.
The movie's ending is a bit frightening. There is a strong possibility that Zemeckis will blow it with a sugary sweet scene and it looks like he will. Then there is the relief that he hasn't and all is back on track.
The film is long at two hours and 20 minutes, but surprisingly doesn't feel strained and could have even taken more time to explore all the implications. Leaving the theater, the audience was talking about the questions posed: a good sign.
As Carl Sagan said about the possibility of life out there, "If it's just us, that seems like an awful waste of space."
