as a devout atheist and an avowed believer in aliens , i have some idea of how ellie aroway ( jodie foster ) feels . 
but because my reasons for not partaking in religion are different than hers , i can't say that i do exactly . 
her reason is that she needs solid proof : there is no proof that god existed , so therefor she does not believe . 
ellie also believes in aliens , and has spent most of her life trying to prove they exist . 
how can she say she doesn't believe in god because of the lack of proof , and then say she believes in aliens , which are gereally less believed in than god without sounding like a hypocrite ? 
that's the catch-22 . 
when aliens from the star vega fax her some plans for a device to transport someone to them ( okay , well , they didn't really * fax * them . . . ) 
ellie wants to be the one to go , but because of her atheism she is denied the position . 
how dumb is that ? 
she discovers the transmitions , then she isn't allowed to go . 
well , because of a bomb and a psychopath ( jake busey ) , she * does * end up going , but not in the way that we would've thought . 
contact is based on a novel by carl sagan , who died during the filmmaking . 
it is the best alien movie since close encounters of the 3rd kind , and will end up being the best film of the year . 
its views of science and religion will no doubt aggrivate some , but will stimulate more . 
i'm glad at least one movie of the '90s can portray aliens in a psitive light , rather than a bunch of slimey beasts who will eat your insides and then put on your body .