Contact (1997)
- Starring:
- Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, (more)
- Director(s):
- Robert Zemeckis
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- PG
- Category:
- Sci-Fi & Fantasy
My RatingTheatrical Release Information | See Details About All Versions
The search for life outside our solar system becomes a personal and spiritual quest for a young researcher. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) is a scientist who lost her faith in God after her parents died when she was a child. However, Ellie has learned to develop a different sort of faith in the seemingly unknowable: working with a group that monitors radio waves from space, Ellie hopes that some day she will receive a coherent message from another world that will prove that there is a world beyond our own. Ellie's hard work is rewarded when her team picks up a signal that does not appear to be of earthly origin. Ellie decodes the message, which turns out to be plans for a space craft, which she takes as an invitation for a meeting with the aliens. Ellie and her fellow researchers soon run into interference from a White House scientific advisor, David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt), who cuts off their funding and tries to take credit for their achievements. However, Ellie receives moral support from Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), a spiritual teacher who advises President Clinton and tries to persuade her to accept the existence of a higher power, and financial backing from S.R. Hadden (John Hurt), a multi-millionaire willing to fund her attempts to contact the source of the message. Contact was based on a novel by Carl Sagan, who advised director Robert Zemeckis during the film's production until his death in 1996. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 150 mins
Complete Cast:
- Jodie Foster - Ellie Arroway
- James Woods - Michael Kitz
- Tom Skerritt - David Drumlin
- David Morse - Ted Arroway
- Geoffrey Blake - Fisher
- Rob Lowe - Richard Rank
- Jena Malone - Young Ellie
- David St. James - Joint Chief
- Matthew McConaughey - Palmer Joss
- John Hurt - S.R. Hadden
- William Fichtner - Kent
- Angela Bassett - Rachel Constantine
- Max Martini - Willie
- Jake Busey - Joseph
- Tucker Smallwood - Mission Director
- Director(s):
- Robert Zemeckis
- Writer(s):
- Jim V. Hart, Michael Goldenberg
- Producer(s):
- Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- PG(Watch With Your Teen, Violence, Adult Situations, Profanity)
- Categories:
- Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
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