A sci-fi where they did their homework. And Tom Skerritt doesn't play a cop!

Rating: 8/10 (16 March 2011)

If you don't like movies that make you think some, or don't like movies that don't tie up ALL the loose ends, you won't like this. You should just go watch 'Independence Day' again. The dangling threads at the end of this movie are a large part of its message.
Contact has always been a guilty pleasure for me, being surrounded by friends who've largely excoriated it for 'woefully misdrawn characters' and 'moronic dialog'. (I disagree with these accusations... for the most part.) But it has a little something for everybody, except maybe hardcore action fans. A little romance, interpersonal relationships and conflicts, political infighting, betrayal, mystery, large- and small-scale special effects... There were nice touches all the way through this movie, including the irony in the plot, that give it a richness you don't usually find in a sci-fi. (The small recurring themes like the crescent, the camera shot where young Ellie's running to get her dad's medicine, etc, show an attention to detail that really adds to the overall experience.) And I appreciated Zemeckis's 'gee-whiz' additions that the book either overlooked or didn't need--the immense size of the machine, the suspense added to the scene where Ellie gets in for the trip and those huge rings start turning... awesome. Bob Z's other trademarks (such as splicing in actual historical figures & TV & news personalities a la Forrest Gump to give it authenticity) are also a treat. The insertion of Clinton into the news clips gave the movie a heightened feeling of immediacy and reality at the time of its release. If you didn't see it at that time this will probably seem jolting and anachronistic. But don't let that stop you from seeing it now! I've watched this one maybe 5 times (one of maybe 3 movies I've seen this many times), and in the later viewings I have cringed a little at some of the overacting, and I thought the 'alien' encounter should have had a little more to it. (In the book this interaction took place over several days.) I also thought James Woods' character cooking up the hoax idea at the end was lame and unnecessary from a plot standpoint. This is why I only gave it 8 stars. But my first viewing (in the theater) still sticks with me as being a moving and thought-provoking experience where I didn't really notice these shortcomings.
A lot has already been said here about the philosophical aspects of the movie, but I want to back up what another reviewer said about it being about humanity rather than aliens. This was THE key aspect of the movie and is why you never actually see an alien. It used the idea of alien contact as a mirror for looking at humanity. (All good SF--all good literature, really-- is ultimately about the human condition.) It's the story of one person's journey of self-discovery as well as that of society at large. The way this story scales so well from one individual to all humanity and the way the movie presents these parallel themes is what make it noteworthy.
And kudos for keeping the main character a take-no-bullshit woman whose primary attractiveness stems from her intelligence. Something else that's pretty rare in the movies.
I think I'm going to watch it again tonight.