Minority Report (2002)
Grade: B+
Cast: Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton, Colin Ferrell, Max von Sydow, Peter Stormare, Lois Smith and Steve Harris
Director: Steven Spielberg

Director Steven Spielberg has ventured into some new territory in his last two film: science fiction. The genre itself is nothing new to the celebrated director. After all, this is the man who helmed "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial." But the way in which he chooses to present these films is quite new. "Minority Report" and last summer's underappreciated and underseen "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" are created as dark films, almost sinister. And there are hints of cynicism and more mature themes than he has shown us he is capable of in the past. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, because both films are great, but it seems as if Spielberg is growing as a director.

"Minority Report" is his newest creation. Working with a solid script by Jon Cohen and Scott Frank ("Out of Sight"), based on a story by Philip K. Dick, he tells the story of John Anderton (Tom Cruise), a Washington D.C.-based Pre-Crime officer. Pre-Crime is a special department of crime-fighting set up in D.C. How it works is that there is a "temple" with three Precogs (Precognitives) who can see murders before they happen. The precogs are twins Arthur and Dashiel, and most importantly, Agatha (Samantha Morton).

When the Precogs envision a murder, the technician sends the images to a machine that generates balls of information. If it is an unmeditated crime of passion, two red balls will show up. One of them will state the perpetrator and the victim(s). If it is premeditated, brown balls with the same information will appear. In Washington D.C. there hasn't been a murder in six years, all thanks to the Pre-Crime Unit. But one day, the information comes up and says that John Anderton is the perpetrator. Thinking that his rival Witwer (Ferrell) has set him up, he goes on the lam. And as the film's poster says: everybody runs.

The film is dazzling in it's lived in portrayal of the future and of technology. It adds a sense of realism when characters just walk around their apartment and say "Light," and have one turn on. There's no fanfare over it, and you get the idea that these people have been living with this amenity for some time. It only adds a layer of depth to the film. Also very interesting are the vertical highways, roads, and personalized advertising.

But "Minority Report" has more than just these things going for it. It's a thought-provoking film that asks tough questions. If you were in Anderton's shoes, and you know that you were about to do something potentially bad, would you run and try to change your future but end up adhering to the images generated by the precogs, or would you stay put in a secret place and just bide your time? Predestination vs. freewill is the central argument in the film, but it sometimes falls apart under close scrutiny. If you're just along for the ride, however, than everything should be fine.

The Pre-Crime unit however is ripe for said scrutiny. We know that a system like this could never work because it is totally unethical. Arresting people for things that they maybe haven't even though about doing yet? Well, we're arresting people here in the States because they might be involved with terrorism, but when you go on to say that in three days, someone might commit murder, it is a totally different situation. The system may work, and may arrest murderers, but the precogs can not and should not be infalliable. What about those people who are getting away it?

And what about the argument posted on the AboutFilm Message Boards about people killing in self defense? People get off thousands of times each day (a slight exaggeration) because of self-defense, but if you can only see images but not hear dialogue or know the situation, then how can you be doing the right thing by arresting someone for protecting themselves and letting the real criminal get away? I guess there are holes in every film, but when the film purports to be this thought-provoking (which it is, but to a lesser extent than most people would have you believe) and tightly-wound, you would expect them to not be so big. And maybe it's not the story, or the plot, or the filmmaking. Maybe it's just the idea of the Pre-Crime unit.

So, enough of my pschobabble meanderings. The film just shocks us with it's fully realized view of the future. The cinematography for one is absolutely fantastic. Shot in steely blues and grays, the film looks great. The production design and the special effects are seemless, and every shot is no doubt gorgeous, and teeming with little details that a lesser director would forget to include. The film knows the meaning of nuance and advances it plot more easily and efficiently, but without pandering to mainstream audiences.

One problem is that Steven Spielberg really doesn't leave us to draw our own conclusions. In the murder mystery plot of the film, he pretty much sews everything up for us instead of letting us put the pieces together. Of course his way works too, but I just felt like I wasn't able to think. There's a lot to think about in this film, and by explaining the whole film to us in great detail (and perhaps taking it a little too far and extending the running time over by about 20-30 minutes), he doesn't allow us to think for ourselves. But it's a minor quibble.

Acting-wise the film is superb. Tom Cruise presents use with his most emotional and patho-filled work since 1999's "Magnolia." Samantha Morton (who was Academy Award nominated for playing a mute in Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown") is excellent. As a mostly silent character, she is fightening when she talks. She also plays her confusion with the outside world fantastically. Max von Sydow is appropriately old-looking for his role as Anderton's mentor who realizes that John knows too much, and Colin Ferrell is good as Anderton's rival and potentional successor. Lois Smith is also effective in her brief scene, and creepy too!

So Spielberg does some good work. It's probably right on par with "A.I.," but it's certainly not the masterpiece that it's been hailed as. A solid film with a murder-mystery, some sci-fi, and some thought-provoking material, "Minority Report" is an impressive and breathtaking film that most people should see, regarless of their genre predilections.


Brian Jones, July 2002