Big ideas

Rating: 7/10 (22 August 2015)

Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) starts work for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Her mother died in childbirth and her dad died when she was a child. Kent (William Fichtner) is a blind researcher. Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey) is a religious writer who becomes her romantic partner. David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt) is the bottom-line head at the observatory who shuts her down. Four years later, she is still the outcast as funding and facilities dry up. Then she finds an extraterrestrial signal. Drumlin and NSA adviser Michael Kitz (James Woods) take over. Hadden (John Hurt) is an eccentric tycoon who has been supporting her.
It's a brainier science fiction. The first half is exciting in the non-action way. It is smart. It tries to add in some action but it is unable to transition. It may be better not to transition. Also Robert Zemeckis overdoes the space travel and the other world. The religious debate takes up too much space and gets a bit clunky. The logic of hiding such a massive construction is highly questionable. The first half rivals any of the best sci-fi and the second half isn't bad either.