Yeah most people seemed to feel it didn't work for them.
I watched ET so many times as a kid, and there was always something off about that movie to me.
And Close Encounters also never really did it for me. Lots of stuff about the movie is great, but it's not a movie that I would watch over and over.
That said, I'd watch either of those again before I watch this film again.

I think part of the issue for me is the altruistic view of aliens.
There are a lot of people that assume they are benevolent somehow, and better than people. But I would say that runs contrary to everything we know about natural biology, and the competitive nature of virtually all life forms.
The fact that they aren't known to us openly would be an indicator of some sort of intent. Seems they work/interact only with a select-few people, or they want to remain secret for some other possibly nefarious purpose.