Review of Contact (1997) by Thomas C — 10 Sep 2009

Robert Zemeckis doesn't make great art; let's just get that out of the way. But he does make great entertainment, and 'Contact' falls firmly in that category - dramatically compelling, emotionally and intellectually grounded, and alive with ideas and dreams.

Are there holes? Most definitely. Blatant emotional manipulation complete with a Disney-esque score from Alan Silvestri? Chalk that one up too. But it is never less than compelling, and when it came on TV last night I thought "Yeah, I remember that being a good film", but I couldn't tear myself away for love nor money despite annoying commercial breaks and an f'ed up aspect ratio and the not insignificant issue of food burning in the kitchen.

'Contact' assembles such a stellar cast (and Matthew McConaughey) that turn in not challenging or surprising performances, but simply effective and affecting ones (even Matthew McConaughey). It's a bit on the long side, sure, but still incredibly enjoyable. And John Hurt is - as always - the man!

I'll get straight to the major bone of contention: the climax. A lot of people I know hate the culmination of Jodie Foster's galactic trip. I think it was awesome - saying so much and so little, intellectually tantalizing but emotionally - and even visually - resounding. I wasn't as pleased though with the flim-flam nature of the ending, with the congressional hearings and the way everything could conveniently go either way. In that sense it was almost like the ending of 'Basic Instinct', the one and only time I'm sure those two films have ever been directly compared.