Contact Review
by Chuck Dowling (chuckd21 AT southeast DOT net)July 17th, 1997
Contact (1997) ** out of ***** - Cast: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey,
James Woods, Tom Skerritt, Angela Bassett, John Hurt, Rob Lowe, David Morse.
Written by: James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg. Based on the novel by:
Carl Sagan. Directed by: Robert Zemeckis. Running Time: 150 minutes.
*** This Review Contains Spoilers. ***
"Contact" was one of the movies I was looking forward to the most this
summer. I even made arrangements to see it over a week before its release.
At this point I've seen it twice. The first time I saw it, I felt that it
was just about the most painfully slow, dull, and lifeless film I had ever
had the misfortune to sit through in a movie theater. And after the second
time? Well, I still don't feel like I've seen a good movie, and it's still
awfully dull. But for the most part, it's just extremely disappointing.
Now I'm not extremely disappointed because the film's not another
"Independence Day". Most people seem to think that if you don't like
"Contact", then you're just a brainless drooler who's only entertained by
stuff blowed up real good. Yet there's more explosions in "Contact" than
there are in films such as "Sling Blade", "Carried Away", and "Ulee's Gold",
all films I've seen recently which are more entertaining that this one. As a
matter of fact, there's not a split second of action in any of those films.
Fans of this film have been raving about how intelligent it is. You'd be
surprised how many of these "intelligent" fans have sent such childish
responses to my opinons of the film, even going as far as saying I should be
killed and I should burn in hell because I didn't like it. Is "Contact"
intelligent? Sure it is. The basis of the entire film relies heavily on
science, math and religion. But does intelligence mean that it will
certainly be entertaining? No. Are all the people who dislike the film
therefore unintelligent? Absolutely not.
The opening shot of the film, a very lengthy pullback through the entire
universe, starts out showing us just how far our own radio and television
signals have been able to travel. But it's point is to really give the
audience an idea of how vast the universe is. It's a great special effect,
both from a sound and a visual aspect.
We then meet astronomer Jodie Foster, who works with SETI, Search for Extra-Terrestial Intelligence. For years and years she works incredibly hard
and endures many setbacks in her job of listening for radio signals from the
heavens, until one day her lifelong dream is realized... a message from
outer space is received.
This discovery sets the world into a frenzy. Well, I suppose it does anyway,
since instead of ever seeing a regular average citizen and how it may effect
his/her life, we see countless montages of someone channel surfing through
what seems like ten different channels of CNN. In their place, I would have
much rather seen what effect this would have had on an everyday family,
instead of just what all the scientists, politicians, and journalists had to
say about it.
Related to that problem by not showing us the reactions of any normal
people, many of the film's actual characters aren't developed well enough
for my liking. For example, Jodie Foster's team consists of a black guy, a
blind guy, a nerdy guy (and they only way you know that is because he always
wears a shirt displaying the periodic table of the elements), a young guy
who smokes a pipe, and a biker looking guy. Surely there's something these
guys could do to give them just a little depth. One of them could have a
family and we could find out how they felt about the film's events.
Then there's the "relationship" which develops between Foster and
McConaughey thanks to a couple of hours of conversation, the sharing of a
Cracker Jack prize, and a quick hop in the sack. That whole thing feels
phony and forced, as if the studio demanded that there had to be a love
interest subplot somewhere in there just to appease a certain demographic.
Then, over four years then go by without either one having contact with the
other, but yet when they do reunite, feelings continue to blossom. I would
have felt much better if these characters had just met, shared some
conversation and debate, then met up again four years later to participate
together in a project, and continued their exploration of each other's
beliefs.
But the main problem I have with "Contact" is it's length, or really the
amount of time spent on the more boring aspects of the story. Now I'm not
one of those people who automatically won't like or won't even see it just
based on it's running time. My problem with it's length is the same problem
I had with the length of 1995's "Heat". That problem is that there's too
much needless footage for a great many scenes which have already established
their point.
For example, while Foster and McConaughey are in bed together, he asks about
her father. She lets him know that he died when she was nine. Fine. But
then, moments later she has a lengthy flashback to that event. David Morse
(who give his usual excellent performance in yet another miniscule part) has
already been well established as her father. What purpose does this serve?
Let's just keep going with the story here.
Also, there's just scene after scene of debating the whole "religion vs.
science" issue, something which isn't resolved in the film because the
argument just can't be resolved in real life either. Obviously scientists
usually don't believe in God (not in the traditional sense anyway), and
religious people can't fully accept science as an explanation for why things
are. It just keeps going on and on, and it's dull.
Then, there are many moments which present very intriguing ideas and
situations, but are then immediately dismissed. Or I just feel that certain
ideas could have been executed much better. When the signal is received from
outer space, it's incredibly frustrating to the viewer. The three characters
who discover it all keep talking at the same time, making it impossible to
know what anyone is saying. Yes, I understand they're excited, but I want to
hear what they are saying, I was interested to find out the details, and
disappointed when I couldn't make out what any one character was saying.
After decoding the signal it is discovered that a video signal was also
sent. It too is decoded, and revealed to be footage of Adolf Hitler. The
scene is played great, the music swells and the characters react to it as
the most bizarre and intriguing thing yet, which it most certainly is. Then,
two seconds later, it's immediately brushed off. Don't play an idea that
interesting up like that if you don't plan on using it for anything. After
that brush off we are then treated to a "Forrest Gump"-ish type scene
involving Bill Clinton, a horrible concept which not only grinds the film to
a screeching halt (it was almost there anyway) but unfortunately dates the
movie. Using Clinton, who couldn't be more vague on whatever topic he's
really discussing in the clips used, is just unimportant to the film's
events. It's not a personal bias on my part mind you, but it's another
needless waste of film, which is then repeated several times later.
But the biggest disappointment is the film's final scenes (and no, not
because bug eyed monsters don't show up). After the main events of the final
scenes, it's thankfully revealed that this whole thing could have been
nothing more than an elaborate hoax played on the world by an eccentric
billionaire (John Hurt) who had nothing to lose and seemingly plenty of
motive and opportunity. When this is exposed, so much now made sense. There
were clues to this for the whole movie, and I really felt satisfied now that
most of what had just happened twenty minutes earlier may not have happened
at all. Unfortunately, a scene then follows which indicates that those
events really did occur. The other explanation was much more interesting. I
would have rather explored the ramifications of the hoax angle.
Is "Contact" awful? No, but it's not anything special. It's story just
doesn't go in directions that are the slightest bit interesting to me.
Conceptually it's a good idea, and it's technically well made, the effects
are good and the score is nice. But nothing can substitute for a good solid
story, and that's where "Contact" is sorely lacking. [PG]
--
Chuck Dowling -- <[email protected]>
Visit Chuck's Movie Reviews at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/
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