Enjoyable, though not for all ages.

Rating: 8/10 (16 April 2008)

The controversy generated by this movie is astounding. Many claim that the ages-old battle between Church and Science, began with Carl Sagan; an outrageous lie of ignorance, at best. The fundamental differences in belief go back as far as the days of Constantine and court magicians. Alchemists were persecuted by the Church for heretical acts, and ... oh, but this is useless.
This film goes a long way towards outlining the governmental interferences known to take place between ufologists and "real" scientists who, infuriatingly, side with the Church where extraterrestrial life is concerned...or they did until the last few years. Now, it is considered acceptable to admit that there "may be" other life out there, and many of Sagan's theories are considered an axiom today, such as his often-quoted philosophy, that "...if humans are the only life in the universe it would be a terrible waste of space." At the heart of Contact, you are taken along one woman's journey to self-discovery, but all around her, others are making their own discoveries, even if they are too selfish and duplicitous to share them with her. Often, in real life, these people are just too self-involved to realize that they have HAD an epiphany and it soon goes away.
But at any rate, Contact delivers awesome entertainment, some poignant drama, and a fluid and stylistic presentation from Sagan and Zemeckis. It's a bit dated, but not so much as to detract from one's enjoyment. This is a really good movie, with a decent budget, and it enjoys an impressive rating here at IMDb (to be so preachy). I would say it would be a decent Friday/Saturday night's viewing, as long as the subject matter is appealing to the audience.
Foster delivers a genuine performance in which the viewer has no choice but to subscribe to her character, and become embroiled in her intrigue. A top row performance, but I have never seen Foster give any less, even as a child star.
Fichtner is a tremendous talent as a character actor, and he does not fail herein to engage. You should check out some of his other, more flamboyant, performances. That man can ACT! It was lovely to see him again.
I found it enjoyable, though not for all ages, as some portions and aspects of the story may confuse and/or distress younger viewers.
It rates a 7.8/10 from...
the Fiend :.