Contact (1997) | REVIEW

Beautiful, emotional, gripping, and out of the ordinary; these are the core elements that make Contact what it is. Based on the Pulitzer-prize winning book of the same name, Contact is a portrayal of the human spirit and the will to discover the true meaning of our existence, and if we are truly alone in this endless universe. Before I even start this review I'm going to recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it before. Contact is something that you definitely want to watch one way or the other.

This Flick is About...
Dr. Arroway (Jodie Foster) has always been obsessed with finding life apart from that on Earth. When her SETI program at Puerto Rico is halted by Dr.Drumlin, the financier, she and a small team decide to move to New Mexico to pursue their mission independently. After years of searching and while on the brink of certain failure, Arroway discovers a transmission hailing from Vega, a zone 26 lightyears away from Earth itself! This leads to a chain of events; conflicts and discoveries all revolving around what may be the grandest discovery of our generation.
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While the plotline above may sound like this movie is all about "little green men", I assure you that it's not. Director Robert Zemeckis knows exactly what he's doing and the result is a fascinating film about the will to endure, curiosity of the unknown, human relationships, and the constant clashes between theories of science and the existence of God. Every issue is beautifully tackled and interpreted in a way that seems seamless and whole. Nothing seems rushed or forced down. The runtime for the film spans a whole 150minutes and every minute is used to its fullest potential. There are no empty moments and boring, unnecessary talk. There's no violence or sex or nudity for the simple sake of promotion and marketing.

Hence, Contact is a movie's movie. It can be enjoyed by those who adore casual movies. At the same time it can be analyzed to the core by film students who demand that their "test subjects" offer a storyline with depth, character development, expositions, conflicts, reversals, and resolutions. Contact it not just the common man's movie, it's also a critics' movie; a movie that was marketed well, hyped-up, and promoted nicely amidst other giants like Titanic and The Lost World : Jurassic Park in the same year, making itself a bleeding target for the sharks cum critics in the business, yet comes off as such a wholesome piece of work that even critics cannot help but admit that Contact definitely "connects".

When it comes to acting and performance, Contact delivers very nicely. Jodie Foster does a great job at pulling off a confrontational, passionate astronomer while Matthew McConaughey is perfect for the role of Palmer Joss, a man who holds a "Masters in Divinity" yet isn't the average priest you see in churches. He's a charming, open-minded believer who insists that some things in the universe cannot be explained or proven. For instance, God. Other supporting actors include James Woods, John Hurt, and William Fichtner (who does a wonderful job at playing Arroway's teammate, Kent, who is blind yet has a remarkable sense of hearing).

While I've never been a major fan of Mat McConaughey, I've enjoyed some of his roles to a great degree. While his role as Van Zahn in Reign Of Fire is probably the one I like most, there's just something about him that fits perfectly into Contact. He brings a balance to it and the way he pulls of his character as Palmer Joss is great. There's that confidence of knowing for sure yet he doesn't come off as arrogant or pompous. Something worth watching out for.

When it comes to music, score, and sound effects, Contact is amazing. Audio is delivered in stunning DTS whereas the music is emotional, riveting, suspenseful, and acts like a perfect soulmate to the visuals; they complete each other is all I'm saying, I don't care how corny it sounds. A movie like Contact demands a well-planned, thoroughly prepared score. Sound effects need to be realistic if not hyper-real, and anything otherwise could jeopardize the film to a massive extent. The composer on board is Alan Silvestri, a person whose music I have enjoyed for many years now. Yet for Contact, we don't really feel Silvestri's signature touch, which is all the more amazing. It simply proves that a person like Alan Silvestri is versatile and works according to the current case.

When it comes to CGI it's hard to judge. I remember thinking when I first watched it all those years ago that it wasn't the best of visuals, even bad at some points. I watched it again recently and as you can expect, some instances have bad CGI implementation and this just damages the scene and breaks the believability of the audience. What surprises me is that back in 1997, movies were already integrating graphics and visuals that were so breathtaking that they stand as benchmarks even up to this day! Titanic, anyone? Or how about The Lost World? It would have been great if more attention was given to the CGI in Contact, but maybe that's just the budget acting as a restraint. Nevertheless, there are some visuals in there that are worth taking a look at and if they all fail, the acting and plotline alone are enough to save the day.

Speaking of CGI, it was interesting to see a very familiar name in the end credits when I watched the DVD recently. "Additional effects By WETA Digital, New Zealand". And after more than a dozen names roll up it says "and Peter Jackson." For those of you who don't know, Peter Jackson is the director of this trilogy called The Lord Of The Rings. You might have heard of it. ;) And WETA were the ones behind the effects and visuals. While this comes as an interesting piece of information, it also explains the crappy CGI in some scenes. While Lord Of The Rings had amazing visuals because of the extensive miniatures, some CGI in it was bad. Some.

Another bothersome part about the movie is John Hurt. The man is beyond corny in this movie. I'm not sure what or why, but every time he appears on screen the movie feels like it's taken a diversion into "Cheap Land". It's like there's a road of pure quality and Contact is on it when suddenly there's a detour and it falls into "Almost Failure Lane", then finds it's way back onto Quality Road again. Watch it and see if you can relate with me on this topic.

There's not much more to say about Contact. You have to watch it in case you haven't already. It's a beautiful movie. It has everything from character study to proper, well-planned development, an interesting story arch, good music, great acting, and characters that you genuinely care for.
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Wrap : I give Contact a 4.2 out of 5.0. Its shortcomings lie in CGI and some minor corny instances. Otherwise it's a thought-provoking movie which can be interpreted in numerous ways yet enjoyed by those who just want to watch a movie for fun. It works both ways. Contact is so good that it has been compared to some of Steven Spielberg's work, particularly Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, which is saying a lot. And the person who made this comparison is none other than Roger Ebert, the so-called master critic. When it comes to good films, Contact stands as one of the elite. It may not be a landmark movie, but it's definitely worth a watch for anyone who loves an extraordinary story.