Contact

Sci-fi you can believe. Zemeckis's insistent focus on the female protagonist, with whom we are repeatedly taken back to her childhood, can feel tedious and lengthy at first, but in the end it’s the psychological portrait of an alienated woman fulfilling her life's dreams that dominates the narrative and sets up a solid emotional foundation for the final intradimensional build-up. It's hard to judge, but the political/social hysteria about making contact with outer space is portrayed very authentically and smartly, and although the pacing would lose a race to Professor Xavier at times, the ending is so effective, appealing, and visually charming that it successfully clips all of the flaws into a convincing and meaningful system; there aren't many sci-fi films like this. (03/07/2017)

Zemeckis' underrated exploration of space, politics, and most importantly, interpersonal relationships, is something I appreciate more and more each day. From a pleasant and fulfilling experience, it escalated into a film that projects itself into various life situations, dangerously frequently. In my eyes, this is Jodie Foster's life role and probably the centerpiece of Zemeckis' journey towards spiritual rebirth (initiated by Jenny in Forrest Gump and concluded by Cast Away's Chuck). That journey was terribly long and yet completely simple. (06/03/2008)

Solid craftsmanship, wonderful story. Robert Zemeckis' now classic intellectual sci-fi film about whether we are alone in the universe features an excellent Jodie Foster, ably seconded by a young Matthew McConaughey. The gradual narrative doesn't forget the broad scale, showing humanity in all its gullible and skeptical scope. On reflection, the three-body problem is a dark answer to the questions raised in Contact. It fits together beautifully for me now. (01/25/2024)

A pleasant sci-fi film that managed to arouse in me an acute and impatient curiosity to know what would happen next, what kind of truths about alien civilisations would be revealed (this is something that the mythology episodes of X-Files manage to do regularly). Pity that weird and long ending. (06/23/2011)

The director takes care and every shot is thought out to the smallest detail. And when you have have acting aces like Jodie Foster, William Fichtner and James Woods, then success is already guaranteed halfway. Robert Zemeckis is a perfect fit for the project with his filmmaking style, as he didn't turn it into a grandiose sci-fi full of space monsters and tons of visual effects, but rather into a clever and intelligent caper, posing a lot of questions and not giving clear answers. The sweet line about the father fits beautifully, and Jodie Foster delivers a captivating performance. Films about extraterrestrial intelligence can be shot in an interesting and engaging way even without direct physical contact with it. And even though I don't like Zemeckis because of his excessive political correctness and academic bootlicking, this film is awesome. (07/03/2007)