Contact | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
directed by Robert Zemeckis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Written by James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Based on the novel and story by Carl Sagan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
150 minutes, Rated PG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A review by Thomas F. Cunningham
But let's start with the first reel. The other major question that Contact poses
is: Is there life out there? Or are we alone in the universe? In case you missed
last summer's blockbuster Independence Day (where this question was unequivocally
answered) Contact presents us with a much more believable scenario for true first alien
contact. Three times the movie makes the point, "...if it's just us, it would be an awful
waste of space." Realize that Zemeckis uses some wonderful special effects and
computer graphics to drive this home.
Carl Sagan is credited with the screen story, based on his 1985 bestseller, and for the most
part the film stays true to his vision -- with some updates.
Sagan and his wife, who produced the PBS series Cosmos, were the
co-producers. And the movie ends with the dedication, "For Carl," a
tribute to the man who more than anyone else in recent years
popularized the science of astronomy and astrophysics.
Casting was well done. The central character is Ellie Arroway, (Jodie Foster)
who discovers and decodes a message sent to earth from a star system 26 light years
away. The ramifications of this present a number of challenges to the talented and
scrappy scientist. She is not weak, but rather a true hero, ready
to get up and continue no matter what obstacles are put in her way. She has some
help from S.R. Hadden (John Hurt) who not only funds her research but
later ensures she is in a position to take the trip of a lifetime to visit the senders
of the message. Ellie's love interest, Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), is
also her principal adversary. He continues to represent the
religion-as-truth viewpoint. James Woods plays Michael Kitz, the National
Security Advisor, a hostile man and a far more evil villain than Woods' other summer
role, Hades. David Drumlin (played by Tom Skerritt), is the head of the
National Science Foundation who proves that those director types only make discoveries
they've stolen from someone else, in this case Ellie. And with a fine sense of
irony, Rob Lowe is cast as the spokesman for the "Conservative Coalition."
In addition to casting Rob Lowe, there are a few other inside jokes in the
movie. When Ellie first meets Palmer Joss, she describes Venus' greenhouse
effect, which just happens to be Sagan's Doctoral Thesis. Later, as
Hadden runs through the highlights of Ellie's life, he points out that
she turned down a teaching position at Harvard. The same Harvard that denied
Sagan tenure.
From the opening sequence to the journey on "The Machine," the graphics are
beautiful and really add to the movie, as opposed to being there strictly as eye candy.
The geeks in the audience may get a buzz
from the method used to digitally transfer the specifications of "The Machine"
across 26 light years. And even though the President has several lines
-- courtesy of the techniques Zemeckis perfected in Forrest Gump --
he really doesn't say anything, what a surprise.
Contact works on so many different levels that there is something in it for
all audiences. I recommend it to everyone. See it and you'll agree that even
people who don't normally go in for SF films will really enjoy the movie.
One warning, though: be ready to discuss it with your friends afterward.
It's something you'll want to talk about over coffee or beer, or even
while standing in the parking lot.
Thomas Cunningham is an independent corporate coach working in the software industry. Bad science fiction films give him a rash. |
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