Subject: Review: Minority Report (2002)

From: John Sylva <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 05:13:51 -0000

MINORITY REPORT (2002) 
Reviewed by John Sylva 

"RUN!"  The vigorous screams of pre-cog Agatha (Samantha Morton) echo both 
through the theater's speakers and in the mind of the viewer in a way that 
far exceeds the intensity of any special effect.  It's a desperate warning to 
John Anderton (Tom Cruise) in his attempts to escape the highly equipped 
Precrime officers whom once served as his co-workers but now seek him for 
arrest, and, at the same time, calls the viewer to realize the seemingly 
otherworldly horrors that face the characters of Steven Spielberg's Minority 
Report.  

But otherworldly they are not-in fact, if Spielberg's vision presented in 
Minority Report holds true, they'll be an everyday facet in just 52 years. 

In an unsettling concept, three clairvoyant young entities known as pre-cogs 
lie in a pool, projecting future murders so that the Precrime task force can 
prevent them from happening. Unsettling not only because it explores unknowns 
in our modern world but because it really doesn't seem too far-fetched, 
Minority Report sees Spielberg in a mode he hinted at with last year's A.I.: 
Artificial Intelligence, and, although the film's genre has been labeled 
"popcorn fun," a more appropriate label would be "film noir," despite it 
working as both.  All the elements of 1950's noir are in place-right down to 
up-and-coming Colin Farrell's pinstripe suits as government-appointed 
detective Ed Witwer-with Cruise's Anderton caught in the middle. 

So far, Precrime, founded by Dr. Iris Hineman (who, as portrayed by a dead-on 
Lois Smith, nearly manages to steal the show) has been flawless, which may be 
great news for the Washington, D.C. population, but not so for Cruise's 
Anderton.  Searching a visually projected crime scene for tokens of 
familiarity as to the location of a murder is an everyday task for him that 
makes televison's C.S.I. look like child's play: In a tricky process, 
Anderton must decipher any trace of location, keeping in mind the slightest 
miscalculation could lead to a successful murder, and in turn, the 
government's eradication of the program.  So you might imagine Anderton's 
dilemma when he discovers himself in a precognitive vision-and not as the 
victim, but as the killer. 
                    
Watching the mystery unravel against Spielberg's future is never less than 
fascinating.  In contrast to A.I., Minority Report creates a world comparable 
to the present, with technology seeming merely an extension of our own.  
Never preoccupied with bluntly dazzling the audience, the visual effects 
interweave the familiar with the extraordinary, allowing the viewer to 
readily identify with what's happening.  Billboards that speak directly to 
you, vertical highways, and animated cereal boxes are just some of the nifty 
concepts Spielberg has employed here as a frame for the whole picture-a 
picture that, alone, doesn't require the slightest leap of faith to deem 
believable.   

As Anderton, Cruise adequately portrays a father's longing for his dead son 
and his drive to prevent other children from being taken as his was.  His 
emotional connection to the Precrime program is understandable, as is his 
concern for Agatha, whom he steals for personal knowledge of the vigorous 
search for his arrest.  Agatha herself serves as one of the film's many 
ironies, as, although she has helped prevent numerous murders, she's never 
been given a chance to live her own life.  Morton effortlessly slides through 
the mostly non-speaking, often scary role, much as she did with her mute 
character in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown.  The void in these two 
characters' lives convey a sense of humanity amongst the dark and stunning 
visual landscape of the picture. 

Driven by common noir themes of greed, distrust, and paranoia, Minority 
Report makes an excellent case for itself in its first two hours, a 
rock-solid spectacle of imagination and visceral force.  But Anderton's 
mystery is juiciest when left unsolved.  As the pieces of the puzzle slowly 
come together in the film's third act, the viewer realizes these are the 
pieces that Spielberg just couldn't get to fit right to complete the whole.  
Falling into a web of cliches, Spielberg loses grasp on what held the first 
two acts together: a sense of intrigue.  Considering the bulk of the film's 
strength, one can easily forgive the director for stepping wrong, especially 
bearing in mind he gets more right in this time than three of the other 
summer blockbusters do combined-however, declaring Minority Report a "great 
film" doesn't come easily.  So here's holding out for his Tom Hanks/Leonardo 
Dicaprio starrer Catch Me If You Can, due Christmas, to deliver a 
three-thirds triumph. 

GRADE: B 

       Film reviewed July 3rd, 2002.

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X-RAMR-ID: 32244
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 734724
X-RT-TitleID: 1113879
X-RT-AuthorID: 1361
X-RT-RatingText: B