Excellent - but sentimental

Rating: Null/10 (9 July 2003)

Judging from some of the negative comments about Contact from other viewers, they are approaching the movie from the wrong perspective. If you haven't yet seen this excellent movie, but are considering it, here is the one thing to keep in mind:
Contact is not about an alien civilization. It is about OUR civilization and how contact with aliens would affect it.
The whole point of the movie is to highlight the things that make us human. It raises excellent questions about science, religion, and the search for meaning in life.
If the movie has a fault, it errs on trying to skirt the issue of science and religion in an overly sentimental way - ultimately giving in to a sort of maudlin nod towards faith. Sagan's book from which the movie was adapted had much more of an edge to it - and gave the nod to science.
But this softness notwithstanding, the movie is still outstanding. Just keep in mind that it is about US humans - our foibles and our strengths - and not about the aliens and you'll enjoy the movie much better.