Ellie Arroway, superbly played by Jody Foster, is determined to devote her life to the search for intelligent life in the universe. She makes friends with a writer, Palmer Joss, portrayed by Matthew McConaughey, who is a strong believer in God. Although Ellie, with a pure science background, and Palmer, with his belief in God, have major philosophical differences, they both recognize something special in their relationship.

Just when the funding is about to run out on the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) project, Ellie actually receives a strong, consistent set of radio waves coming from Vega, a planet about twenty-six light years away from Earth. The hysteria that ensues, borders on a circus atmosphere as Ellie, an idealist, attempts to maintain control over her project. Political maneuverings by the government make this incredibly difficult for her.

"Contact" is one of those precious movies that families can enjoy together. The question is, "Who will enjoy it more: the kids or the parents?"

From the visually impaired point of view, this movie starts out with visuals of the universe and no sound at all for about five minutes. I missed the beauty of this scene, but could appreciate it anyway. There were a few subtle scene changes that were difficult, along with three male voices that I could not immediately differentiate. This would have been rough without a sighted assistant. On the positive side, there was lots of dialogue and only a few major characters. Ellie's partner on the job, a humble but strong and compassionate guy, just happened to be blind. Not too shabby as far as blind characters in Hollywood go. The movie, although exciting, moved slowly, with hardly any abrupt, chaotic scenes. This was very good.