Intellectually disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (23 December 2011)

It was only now that I actually made it to watch this movie as a whole. I always had some kind of sympathy for the shattered parts I had seen before and I was very hopeful for this film to get the theme right, as it was based on a story of C. Sagan.
Well, now I am truly disappointed.
Our main character is a strict scientist, more than most I have ever met personally. She is based deeply in the philosophy of modern natural science. Citing Ocam's razor it is fairly easy to state being an atheist. And she shows some stubborn philosophical issues real atheists tend to display as well.
In the end, a person like that goes on to a journey to the stars. Returning without any serious proof. The experience she has is more than doubtful. Just the notion of meeting her father on another star's shore makes it highly probable, the whole thing is just a hallucination of some sort. Maybe induced by the strange electromagnetic effects of the (alien) machine.
If the main character lived up to her inner believes, she would be the first to admit. But no, she rather ignores this, and winds up with the man, who is - albeit a strictly religious person - her lover. Giving up all conviction, blending with a religious philosophy, losing herself, for a man!? Farewell to Ocam and all foundations of modern science.
This is strictly unbearable, if you got any kind of believe or philosophy. There is no possible accord between religion and nowadays science. These positions are natural enemies. And Contact tries to wipe the fundamental conflict away.
Of course people with contradicting philosophies can fall in love. Philosophy and even religion do not really matter in the end. Well, at least if you kept some sanity to yourself. But they do not need to blend into each other. The main character of this movie for sure would not.
And I am not talking about the logical holes in the plot line. Why would national security get involved, if it takes for any message 26 years to travel to the other side? That means actually you send something and receive an answer 52 years later! Why would the government hold back information (18 hours of video recording that should not exist) if the same government has to justify the costs of 600 Trillion (!) Dollars. Ridiculous! In the end and at the end the movie falls apart. Starting up as a rather credible and accurate story about the first contact to an alien civilization. But definitely failing when the contact is made and the aftermath has to be handled.