Beautiful!

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2019)

"Contact" centers on Ellie Arroway,a child prodigy & then a brilliant physicist.She has a single-minded devotion to only one question.Are we alone? Or is the universe just an "awful waste of space"? These questions though are not well received by the scientific community,at large.Most notably,the influential & resourceful Dr. Drumlin.This leads to the practical vs. pure science confrontation.Ellie though does find some like-minded people to help her in her pursuit.She is a living body of passion.She eats & breathes only to get back to picking up just any concrete evidence about extra-terrestrials.Amidst all this,the movie also manages to juxtapose some very large questions.The faith vs. science debate rages on with the character of Joss Palmer.He is a "man of faith",a Christian who also seems to know some science.His ideas are intersting & fit in quiet well in the movie.Ellie's run-in into Dr. Drumlin again,leads to the idealism vs. practicality debate.Do we want to hear what the other person is saying or just what we want to hear? The movie many such observations about humans & it's partially cynical that way.I absolutely loved how they handled the part after the "big discovery" is made public.The reactions of various sections of society hit really close to home.The movie constantly teases the belief aspect of our actions.Bring it to a head in the climax.
Robert Zemeckis seems to be the high priest of Sci-fi movies.His works are taut,well-directed & very clearly focused."Contact"'s special effects hold up well even today.Ellie's "contact" is an exhilarating scene.The machine and it's interiors are excellent set pieces.Jodie Foster is absolutely brilliant here.Her subtle reactions to the events around her totally sell her character & make us invested in her arc.Jodie carries the movie effortlessly.
The movie is not without it's faults though.There are some scenes that felt hammy.Still,all's well that ends well.And end well it did.It was surprising to read that the critic reviews were so mixed..may I say that they should've sent a poet instead.