"A '2001' for the '90s!" is right

Rating: Null/10 (2 November 1998)

Several commenters here have described "Contact" as "a '2001' for the '90s!" and I would have to agree. Because like most other cultural products of this decade, it's a pale imitation of something meaningful from an earlier era.
In "Contact" a raft of fascinating, complex ideas are reduced to middlebrow drivel in the hands of the hack Zemeckis. Although the simpy music, the clueless dialogue, the moronic new age love interest (and his unrelenting "surprise" appearances) all kept us in stitches throughout, I doubt that was the intended response. Even Jodie Foster seemed uncomfortable in the enforced "naturalism" of her role.
I'd have much preferred seeing a "Contact" directed by Raul Ruiz or Michaelangelo Antonioni, with Lili Taylor as Ellie. Picture that!