Minority Report (2002)

3.5 out of 4

Starring: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow, Kathryn Harris, Lois Smith, Peter Stormare

Directors: Steven Spielberg

Time: 140 mins

Minority Report has been on Steven Spielberg's and Tom Cruise's to-do list for several years, but due to scheduling conflicts, haven't been able to find time to get together and film the damn thing. The concept was certainly exciting: a futuristic tale, from a short story by visionary author Philip K. Dick (who also came up with the premises behind Blade Runner and Total Recall), featuring one of Hollywood's biggest stars, and helmed by its most commercially successful director. Following poorly received sci-fi (Spielberg's A.I.) and mind-bending (Cruise's Vanilla Sky) head trips last year, how would these two Hollywood titans fare with their second consecutive stab at the genre?

Early trailers hinted at an action-packed, summer sci-fi film, filled with flashy cars, and jetpack-propelled chases. The reality, however, is somewhat different. Minority Report is a throwback to the film noir detective movies of the 30s and 40s, when tough-guy actors like Humphrey Bogart plied their trade as hard-boiled investigators and femmes fatale lived in dark, shadowy mansions. The main difference is the setting: a future (year 2054) where personal privacy has all been forsaken, but all in the knowledge that murder has been eliminated. It's not a bright future, but the film postulates the timely question - would society give up personal freedom to be rid of crime? In the light of September 11, this question is even more topical.

Cruise stars as John Anderton, the chief of a new experimental Pre-Crime unit based in Washington, D.C. Three genetically mutated humans (known as Pre-Cogs) have the gift of seeing future homicides, and the goal of Pre-Crime is to prevent these murders before they occur. This obviously asks the ethical question - how can someone be arrested for something they haven't done? When Anderton finds he is named as the suspect for the murder of one Leo Crow, a person he doesn't even know, he goes on the run.

The next hundred minutes is a dizzying (and sometimes dazzling) journey into this brave new world. As Anderton tries to piece the mystery together, as well as keep a step ahead of his pursuers, like persistent FBI man Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell), he realises everything is tied to the drowning of a woman named Ann Lively. He seeks assistance from various nefarious characters, including a sleazy eye doctor played by Peter Stormare (in his third summer film in as many weeks, following parts in Bad Company and Windtalkers), a sleazy prison guard played (memorably, I might add) by Tim Blake Nelson, and the morbid inventor of Pre-Crime, Dr Hineman (Lois Smith), who grows poisonous plants in retirement. Also along for the chase is Anderton's boss, Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow), Anderton's estranged wife Lara (Kathryn Morris), and Agatha (Samantha Morton), the most gifted of the Pre-Cogs.

Spielberg, with the help of credited screenwriters Scott Frank (Out of Sight) and Jon Cohen, has again crafted an intelligent piece of science fiction, one filled with ideas, and very much in the vein of last year's A.I. In Minority Report, however, he gets to parlay the suspense of the chase into some innovative action scenes, such as an escape across magnetic cars that are roaring down a vertical highway, a battle using jetpacks, and a mall pursuit that is one of the most ingenious ever put on celluloid. Interspersed with these high octane moments is a lot of talk and exposition, which would probably get boring if it wasn't for the care Spielberg invests in the scenes, and the emotion Cruise brings to his role. Indeed, even though Minority Report is not your typical, thrill-a-second ride, the story is engrossing enough that by the time the credits roll, 140 minutes have flown by. And I didn't even look at my watch once.

Spielberg brings the full force of his creative talents to the film. Again, he leaches much of the colour out of the film stock, like he did for many scenes in AI and Saving Private Ryan, his definitive war epic. I wish he would get off this washed-out-look phase of his career, though, and return to something warm and colourful again. I admit, I like colourful depictions of the future, whether it be in The Fifth Element or Back To The Future 2. The sterile vision Spielberg and his cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, have devised for Report, however, leaves one cold. Yes, it's a stylistic choice, mirroring the impersonal world people live in in 2054, but does it have to be so unfeeling? The special effects, which are very good, and, even better, don't scream, "CGI!," do work better with the hazy, grainy cinematography, if there is a plus to be found for the style.

The look aside, there are many bravura sequences in the film. Standouts include the previously mentioned mall pursuit, and an overhead shot of an apartment building where mechanical spiders, programmed to scan a person's retina (for identification purposes), scurry through each room, nook, and floorboard, looking for Anderton. The final twenty minutes do become predictable and cliched, which slightly undermines the provocative stuff Spielberg has thrown at us in the previous two hours. The director's predilection for happy, or even hopeful, endings has been faulted in the past, and his need for an upbeat conclusion here doesn't quite work. Perhaps he could have ended it twenty minutes earlier, and followed it with a montage finale similar to that in the movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Dead Zone, which is downbeat and upbeat at the same time, but is all the more brilliant for it.

Cruise, who has played a variety of cocky characters in the past, delivers one of his rawest and most emotional performances. He has a total belief in the Pre-Crime system, but when the system fingers him, his confidence starts to fray. Colin Farrell is excellent as the covetous FBI agent who tries to find a flaw in Pre-Crime, and then tries to nail Anderton using the same system. Samantha Morton is effective as the vulnerable, gifted Pre-Cog whose visions set into motion Anderton's dilemma, and ultimately help him out of a few sticky situations. And Max von Sydow, as Anderton's boss, hardly looks a day older than when he starred as the Exorcist almost thirty years ago. Finally, the supporting characters are all memorable, but in particular Peter Stormare's wacky eye surgeon, and Tim Blake Nelson's scary prison guard.

In a career filled with many popular and critical classics, Spielberg is still finding new ways to explore and extend the range of his directorial capabilities. While Minority Report is not the masterpiece the multiple 4-star raves from professional critics would have you believe, it is a daring and innovative work that doesn't insult anyone's intelligence. It may have a few flaws, yes, but I applaud Spielberg for giving us something to think and talk about. A worthy 3.5 stars, in my opinion.

(c) Joe Wong (23 June 2002)