Is there life out there somewhere?

Rating: 8/10 (8 January 2000)

Bear with me.
A young girl is encouraged by her widower father to explore the world and beyond; soon left orphaned, she turns inward and relentlessly pursues the signs for intelligent life in the universe, only to be thwarted at every turn by an evil nemesis and yet be assisted by a mysterious shadowy figure with the power to make his machinations stick. Add to this a love story between our driven scientist and a fallen yet equally driven spiritualist and you have all the making of a mass of hokum that in lesser hands would go downhill faster than a Radio Flyer on Mount Everest.
However, we are in the hands of Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back To The Future) who masterfully weaves the framework drafted by Carl Sagan into a marvelous tapestry.
Jodie Foster is Ellie Arroway, the driven scientist who needs empirical evidence for anything to exist in her world. She's part of a SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) group about to have their funding pulled by Dr. David Drumland (Tom Skeritt), who at the film's open is the director of the National Science Foundation. Arroway's childhood traumas and fascinations have fused to turn her into this driven force; she is a woman with a vision and she is not easily deterred. Ellie briefly becomes involved with Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), a man who nearly became a priest, but who admits that celebacy was a problem for him, which makes him no less devout as a messenger for God's word.
What evolves is a story that explores the relationship between society, science, and religion. Its characters, which could easily fall cartoonish in the wrong hands, are well-drawn and expertly directed by Zemeckis, who had some prior experience with 'toons and apparently was aware what to watch out for.
Lest you think my opening was a criticism of Carl Sagan and Ann Dryan's screen story, it was not. Sagan and Dryan provided a good story structure for screenwriters James Hart and Michael Goldenberg to build on. Zemeckis, aided by Alan Silvestri's music, keeps it all in tune and doesn't provide us with pat answers, and yet keeps us interested.
One of the more endearing qualities of this film is its true-to-life representation of what would happen in America should what happens to Ellie happens to us. From beginning to end, every part of her experience rang true.
So, for a thoughtful way to spend 2Â½ hours, rent or purchase this film. You'll enjoy it.
My Vote: 8