Review of Contact (1997) by Thomas D — 09 Nov 2016

With all the fun popcorn sci-fi movies we get each year, I think people forget how interesting and cerebral science-fiction can be. Contact is an ambitious look at the lengths of our universe and our human reach, but it sometimes gets a little too obsessed with itself to make a great watch.

Directed by the great Robert Zemeckis and stars Oscar winning Jodie Foster as Dr. Arroway, a scientist who first discovers a potential connection to a life form from an unidentifiable place. Contact is mostly a film about a young girl devoting her life to the research and passion of her late father, but it deals with some heavy themes and ideas. Some ideas are perhaps way to grand scale and broad for the film's grasp, but at its core I really dug the bond between a father and his daughter here. David Morse plays her father in a limited role, but his presence is felt throughout the film.

Jodie Foster's performance as Dr. Arroway is also a highlight. As much as it appears this is an ensemble piece with established actors, this film is largely on her shoulders, and she always kept me engaged. Unfortunately, her character is given a love interest in Matthew McConaughey's character, Palmer Joss. It's one thing to have a one-note character as a love interest. But it's even worse to have that very character ONLY be used when the plot feels like it needs the audience to be more invested in an "emotional moment". The Joss character is merely a plot device and is a hindrance on the enjoyment of Contact as a whole.

But Joss wasn't the only highly flawed character. As Arroway gets closer to analyzing the 'aliens' message to the humans, a character named S.R. Hadden secretly meets with Arroway. This scene, along with every scene he appears in, is completely tonally out of place. This is Contact's biggest issue. The film's first half is tonally balanced and grounded in realism (at least for sci-fi), but once Hadden enters the picture it feels much more heightened than it does grounded. His character seems like a villain straight out of a Bond film, and that just didn't fit in with the rest of the story.

I like what this film challenges us to think about and explore. And to its credit, the third act's payoff is truly unlike anything I have seen before, so there's no shortage of originality there. But to me, the writing with a few characters and unbalanced tone is what really killed my enjoyment after awhile.

+Foster.

+Harrowing journey full of intriguing reveals.

-But the tone is all over the place.

-As are the writing for certain characters.

6.6/10.