Anthony Lane

from review of Contact (1997):

"....Hang on, guys. You have a whole planet to choose from, and you choose Jodie Foster? I am a major Foster fan, but one thing is perfectly clear: Ellie does not need a long trip into space.... Jodie Foster is doing her trademark shudder, complete with staring eyes and lips pressed not a line. It's a look that we have watched before, as Hannibal Lecter quizzed her softly through the bars of his cage, but there the neurosis rang true and sharp, and we were moved by Clarice's determination to ride her sorrows and finish the job. Ellie, by contrast, never seems like a pro at all...."

Anthony Lane
The New Yorker, July 21, 1997
Nobody's Perfect, p. 196

originally posted 11/4/05. Until I become a major Lane fan, I am not including in the above: "...Ellie needs to get (1) a square meal insider her, (2) some rest, and (3) laid...."