Minority Report (2002)

First Tom Cruise movie I actually liked.

Okay, I'll fess up. I am *not* a Tom Cruise fan; not be a long shot. Every movie I've ever seen in which he stars, he acts pretty much the same; only the movie subject matter and dialog change.

However, there are a few scenes in this movie (especially with his son) where he seems to at least somewhat break out of his usual limited range Top Gun/Mission Impossible/Etc. character.

As for the movie itself, I won't bore you with spoilers or a long list of plot faults. There are two things, though, that really bug me. The first has to do with the status of his security clearance: it never changes. It should have been revoked when he was accused of the pre-crime or soon thereafter. Second, near the end of the movie he is arrested and charged with not only the original pre-crime intent to murder, but an actual second murder of a key character. It wouldn't make sense for him to commit the murder, wipe down the gun, and then leave it at the murder scene in plain sight.

Otherwise, it's a enjoyable flick to watch, and does raise some very interesting questions. November 3, 2008

Fitting of the time

I must confess that some of the philosophical undertones of this movie were poignant to me. Nonetheless, I found this movie difficult to endure. The plot wasn't very suspenseful, although it was clever. Some of the major plot twists were very predictable while subtle details were handled in a creative fashion. **My personal disclaimer is that I think such notions of law enforcement are absolutely preposterous, and my stance on the issue left me too far removed from the debate to even enjoy the exploration of the possibilities. That said, I think the filmmakers employed some cute effects, and the vision of our world in the future was eye-candy. September 30, 2008

The Eyes Have It

This movie made me squirrely, disconcerted, agitated, not because it was a movie with an important message to convey, but because it was exploitive and edgy just for the sake of edginess.
It's a futuristic overwrought work in which a precrime unit in Washington, DC, in 2054 prevents murders by using pre-cogs, pre-cognitive slaves who can see into the future and predict crimes that are going to take place. The three pre-cogs, male twins and a woman are kept in a vat of water with electrodes attached. The means justifies the ends, get it.
Tom Cruise is head of the unit; he's an anally-retentive, wired spring about to snap. He seems constipated or suffering from hemorrhoids throughout. He plays the role with extreme seriousness. Warning: the series of scenes about his eyes are very disconcerting. Scanners can identify people by their eyes so you get the picture.
Without giving any of the plot away, it's sufficient to say all the stuff regarding Tom Cruise's eyes is excruciatingly painful to view.
It's an unrelenting movie in which the tables are turned, and the crime fighters target Cruise. In super-hero fashion he fights off platoons of "cops," and learns that he has been set up. His escape with the female pre-cog is harrowing and too disconcerting. He performs unbelievable feats in his escape.
Max von Sydow is very good as Cruise's wily boss. Colin Farrell has a one-dimensional role that doesn't give him a chance to show off his real acting talent. Veteran actress Lois Smith is very good as the morally reprehensible "mad" scientist who even makes a pass at Cruise.
If this is your taste, you'll love it. If it isn't, you may cringe. Optical surgeons may shed a few tears over it. I realize mine is a minority report; most people are going be ga-ga eyed over this flick.
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Clawed Back from the Dead September 16, 2008

Entertaining adaptation of Dick's classic short story

"Minority Report," like "Bladerunner," is based on a Philip K. Dick story (although this time a short story). The plot revolves around a future where murders have almost been eliminated, thanks to a technology that allows the protagonist, John Anderton (played by Tom Cruise) to see into the future and stop a murderer before the act has been committed. The plot, which is excellent, is only half of the reason this film makes the list. The film resembles "Bladerunner," in more ways than having been based on a Dick story; the world it takes place in is beautifully detailed and believable, one in which scanners on billboards read your identity and then produce a specialized advertisement just for you. The future portrayed is believable, both gritty and sleek, and the ethical questions raised by the film are especially poignant as we increasingly live a world were we are videoed, photographed, and observed on a greater, and greater level. August 24, 2008

A modern classic.

Sci-fi crime thriller set in the year 2054 about a policeman - played by Tom Cruise - who works in the Department of Precime in Washington D.C. which uses people with the gift of precognition to prevent murders before they happen. But one day the precognitives predict that Tom Cruise himself will commit a murder; a prediction that leads to Tom Cruise going on the run to clear his name and in the process uncovering a murder that happened in the past; one that somehow the Department of Precrime didn't know about. I found this to be a quite excellent film, with an intelligent plot, first-rate protagonist played by Tom Cruise and a wonderfully realised future world (the special effects really are something else). Spielberg is as usual in his element when making science fiction and this film is even better than the outstanding 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence' which he made the year before. A flawless combination of exceptional story telling and science fiction vision that is quite simply film-making at its very best. A modern classic. June 8, 2008

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