Review of Contact (1997) by Rod S — 01 Jan 2011

Extremely slow moving in the beginning. Seriously, I was nearly asleep and probably would have switched it off if my husband wasn't watching with me!

It was worth sticking with though, and it did get very good and exciting in the end. Put it like this, I went from literally nearly asleep and nodding off, to bolt awake in the part where she went into space. And this from a girl who doesn't like sci fi especially!

I generally like Jodie Foster, but I wasn't so keen on her here for some reason, and it seemed ridiculous for Jenna Malone to play her younger self. This is nitpicking, but Jenna has such beautiful straight hair, and Jodie's looked like a rats nest through most of this. It definitely wasn't a glamourous role for her, and her accent kind of annoyed me here too. Ditto to Matthew McConaughey.

I did admire the atheism in this movie shown by Jodie's character. It was a very brave more for the makers of this film to risk making their main character unlikeable to a lot of people in this way. I am an atheist myself, so for me it was refreshing to see someone else come out and say it instead of being fearful, but I can acknowledge a vast audience for this may not feel that way.

All in all, a good little film. Worth sticking with, although it does take a while to see that payback.