I knew Carl Sagan. He inspired the earliest part of my career. When I was 10, I always responded to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" with "I want to be an astronomer." Yet I had a love for media and storytelling that seemed would go unfulfilled as a scientist.

Then I saw Carl Sagan's Emmy award-winning series "Cosmos." Night after night, I was captivated. Not only was I discovering things about the universe I had never known, I was discovering a role model: a scientist, a writer and, yes, an entertainer all in one man. Suddenly, I knew what I _really_ wanted to be when I grew up: the next Carl Sagan.

So in high school, I paid most of my attention to Physics and English. When it came time to choose a college, I chose Cornell University, in part, because that's where Sagan was. As a senior, I was fortunate enough to be hand-picked by Sagan for the only undergraduate course he taught during my time there.

And yet, to my great shame, I never read his novel, "Contact." My shame is renewed tonight, because CONTACT, the movie, is the best film I've seen so far this year.

Sagan originally wrote "Contact" with his wife, Ann Druyan, as a treatment for a film, so it makes sense that it transfers to the big screen well. CONTACT is the story of Ellie Arroway, a young girl who loves nothing better than to tune in faraway voices on her dad's ham radio. When she grows up, she becomes a radio astronomer on Project SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence -- listening for the most distant voices imaginable. She struggles long and hard against those who think listening for "little green men" is a waste of time, money and talent, until, finally, she hears it. It's a message sent by aliens, and they have something to tell us.

Unlike most summer movies, CONTACT is a film for which it pays to take along your brain. So well-crafted are the depictions of science and society, it hardly seems like science fiction. The great bulk of the movie feels like what might happen tomorrow. Or the next day. It bears a resemblance to some of Michael Crichton's sci-fi films in that regard.

I enjoyed spotting Sagan's pet topics scattered throughout: his arguments regarding the possibility of extraterrestrial life; his depictions of the vastness of the universe; his understanding of what science is and does; his opposition to self-destructive militarism and self-deluding superstition. The collection of science fiction ideas aren't terribly new... 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, SPECIES and others have conveyed similar thoughts. But the execution is superb and the themes run deeper than the ostensible sci-fi. At its heart, CONTACT is about science and religion, about inquiry and faith. Given Sagan's well-known atheism, I was surprised to see just how well faith fared. Though organized and semi-organized religion take a pounding, CONTACT celebrates the experiences and needs that lead Man to God.

I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see a science fiction film with such strong characters and portrayals. In CONTACT, Jodie Foster continues to amaze me. She plays Ellie with incredible sincerity and realness. She's not this strikingly beautiful Hollywood star (though she does get to dress up on occasion) -- she's a geek. I could easily imagine her, glasses, jeans and backpack, roaming the halls of Cornell's Space Sciences Building. She draws you into Ellie's hopes and struggles with words that never ring false and expressions that speak beyond words. No-one on Earth could have played the part better.

Matthew McConaughey is no mere beauty, either. As religion scholar, Palmer Joss, McConaughey is the sympathetic voice of faith in the movie, and the whisper of romance in Ellie's life. He is utterly convincing in both those roles, especially when they bring him into conflict with Ellie's ambition.

James Woods is great as the National Security Advisor sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. Tom Skerritt is infuriating as Ellie's obstructionist superior (interesting to note that he played Dallas in ALIEN, another of my all-time favorite sci-fi films). Angela Bassett should just move into the White House, she's so convincing as a Presidential advisor. And Jena Malone, who plays the young Ellie -- my goodness. She must have studied Jodie Foster's mannerisms intensely. Rarely have I seen the child and adult stages of a character fit together so well.

For those of you who thought FORREST GUMP was a fluke, CONTACT confirms Robert Zemeckis as a director to be reckoned with. He handles the issues of the heart and of the universe with paramount skill. I was amused to see that he still loves to digitally composite U.S. Presidents into his movie. This time he pulls in Bill Clinton to deliver a press statement and attend meetings on the Message. It took me until just now to realize Clinton's statement probably wasn't shot for the movie. See if you can recognize where it's from.

CONTACT possesses some scenes that are extraordinarily moving, yet unlike your typical. The film opens with a "cosmic zoom" (a feature borrowed from Sagan's "Cosmos") that is absolutely breathtaking in its beauty and meaning. I felt tears well up when Ellie discovered the Message; my heart pounded as if I were by her side. I gripped my chair as firmly as Ellie gripped hers as she embarked to meet the aliens. That sequence, from end to end, was incredible -- like 2001's Stargate passage made into a roller coaster. The audience could not help but applaud. And as Ellie surveyed the incomprehensible wonder of the universe, some even cried.

I can name only three false steps in the entirety of CONTACT. A flashback scene in the first act helps to establish Ellie's character but disturbs the pacing of the film. The morphing between adult Ellie and child Ellie during the journey seemed a tad too derivative of 2001. And at first blush, I felt there was something a little Disneyesque in what Ellie finds on the other side of the universe.

Otherwise, I find few words that accurately convey how much I loved CONTACT. So I'll just say this. Go see it. And take me with you when you go.

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Mike's Midnight Movie Reviews
copyright 1995-1998 Michael J. Doyle