Science and religion in wedded bliss

Rating: 7/10 (20 February 2013)

If you can imagine "Armageddon" without the action you'd have a pretty good idea of "Contact." Perhaps this is because they both hail from the late 90s ("Contact" came out the summer of '97 and "Armageddon" a year later). Toss in some elements of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and -- voilà -- you have "Contact." Not that it doesn't possess its own uniqueness, of course.
The story has to do with an astronomer (Jodie Foster) finding conclusive radio evidence of extraterrestrial life. The intelligence -- whatever it is -- then sends data on how to meet, but only one person can go.
Foster's character is an atheistic scientist while her romantic interest in the story believes in God (Matthew McConaughey). The respectful tension of these two mindsets in the face of extraterrestrial contact is interesting and the filmmakers do a good job of maintaining a balance between the two, rather than advocating one above the other. Generally speaking, science and religion both pursue truth (the way it really is) but their methods differ, science stresses empirical evidence whereas religion looks to faith and love. Why can't we embrace both? (What a revolutionary idea!)
Both vantage points are portrayed by people who are genuine and honest about their pursuit of truth. Between them is the character of David Drumlin (played excellently by Tom Skerritt) who is driven by selfish ambition and therefore willing to put on airs to attain his goals. But corruption comes at a price.
The film is based on Carl Sagan's book of the same name. The balance in the film between fact and faith, atheism and belief can be attributed to Sagan's spiritual agnosticism. He rejected the arrogance of atheism and has stated: "Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual." Although I'm not a disciple of Sagan I appreciate his humility, genius and honest reflections on the awesomeness and beauty of the universe and all it's mysteries. The movie conveys this.
The film runs two and a half hours.
GRADE: B