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Tom Cruise gives a mature and complex performance
as John Anderton in Minority Report
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The science-fiction thriller, Minority Report, has all the trappings of a summertime blockbuster. Steven Spielberg directs. Tom Cruise stars. Elaborate sets and numerous special effects create a believable, futuristic city. Yet, the film is too solemn to be mistaken as a typical summer adventure. Minority Report frequently stops the action and allows its characters to ask ethical and philosophical questions about the nature of crime, punishment and predicting the future.
Minority Report tells its story in a dark and deliberate manner: It is a better movie because of it. While Spielberg's previous film, the ambitious future tale, A.I., was disjointed and unfocused, Minority Report seems to achieve all of its dramatic goals. Spielberg has made a future noir that pays homage to classic Fritz Lang films like The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse and Scarlet Street. As a result, Minority Report becomes the creepiest film based on a Philip K. Dick short story since Ridley Scott's 1982 movie, Blade Runner, an adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Set in the year 2054, John Anderton (Cruise) is the head cop on a special Washington, D.C., police unit called Pre-Crime that catches murderers before they actually commit the crime. Pre-Crime's information comes from three extra-sensory seers called Pre-Cogs who float in a milky white pool located at Pre-Crime headquarters. Thanks to Pre-Crime, there are no more pre-meditated murders in Washington.
Pre-Crime promotes a world without murder, and an upcoming election looks to expand its experimental program nationwide. Everything runs smoothly until a government investigator (Colin Farrell) comes looking for flaws in the Pre-Crime unit. Anderton's loyalties to Pre-Crime are tested when the Pre-Cogs show him murdering someone he insists he doesn't know. Only a minority report, a document that questions the validity of Pre-Crime predictions, can prove Anderton's innocence. With the help of Agatha (Samantha Morton), the lead Pre-Cog, Anderton hopes to solve the mystery before being captured.
An edgy beginning sets the tone for the rest of Minority Report. A man is going to murder his wife in 23 minutes, and it's up to the cops at Pre-Crime to prevent it from happening.
Inside Pre-Crime headquarters, a bouncing red ball announces the Pre-Cogs' vision. Anderton stands in front of a holographic screen like some concertmaster. His gloved hands glow at the tips of his fingers. The screen comes alive with the Pre-Cogs' images. Racing against time, Anderton has to piece together the visual clues to determine the location of the would-be murderer. Spielberg keeps the scene fast and suspenseful.
For Spielberg, large-scale filmmaking lies in the details. Everything about Minority Report matches perfectly. Anderton's breakfast comes out of an animated cereal box that won't stop talking. Stores scan customers' eyes in order to update their shopping records.
Minority Report is a smart and suspenseful sci-fi adventure that resembles past future tales like Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville and Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris more than youth-friendly entertainments like Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones. Minority Report's storytelling (from a screenplay by Scott Frank and Jon Cohen) is appropriately challenging. More importantly, Spielberg complements the film's lush production values with characters who are substantive and believable.
Cinematographer Janusz Kaminiski cloaks Minority Report in shades of gray and black. A process called bleach bypass removes most of the color. Kaminiski's use of special film stock also gives Minority Report a grainy appearance. Composer John Williams' creepy score adds to the film's tension. The shadowy sights and sounds Kaminiski and Williams create enhance Minority Report's noirish atmosphere.
Colin Farrell is dependable as the government investigator who questions Pre Crime's accuracy. Veteran actor Max Von Sydow makes the most of his small role as the elderly head of Pre-Crime. Von Sydow's gravely voice and haggard appearance are welcome additions to the film's sleek setting. Samantha Morton is eerie as the seer, Agatha, the one person who holds the clues to Pre-Crime's future. In fact, the scenes between Cruise and Morton are some of the best in the movie.
Character actor Peter Stormare is responsible for Minority Report's scariest scene, playing a black market doctor who gives Anderton an eye transplant that will help him elude scanners. Slipping Anderton's old eyes into a plastic bag, Stomare is the creepiest person in a film filled with creeps. In this one tense moment, Stormare shows why he's the most brilliant character actor working today.
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John Anderton (Tom Cruise) tries to proves his
innocence with the help of Agatha (Samantha Morton).
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Like his recent performance in the erotic thriller, Vanilla Sky, Cruise gives a mature and complex performance in Minority Report. He still has his share of action man moments in the film, leaping from one speeding car to another. In the film's most energetic scene, Pre-Crime cops chase Anderton through an alley, courtesy of their Buck Rogers-like rocket packs. Later, these same cops search for Anderton inside a rundown apartment building through the use of electronic spiders.
Still, it's Cruise's emotions, not his stunts, which turn out to be the highlight of the movie. Anderton wallows in sorrow as he watches holographic images of past family moments. A flashback to a crowded public pool helps explain his sadness. Midway into the movie, during a mysterious meeting with Pre-Crime's inventor, Cruise captures the insensitive quality shared by male stars of 1940s film noirs. For a movie like Minority Report, it's a good quality to have.
Tubular highways and vertical cars are just some of the surreal images Minority Report tosses at audiences. To his credit, Spielberg keeps the film from unloading too many gizmos. Despite its futuristic setting, Minority Report still resembles a conventional private eye drama. In fact, its confrontational climax could have been yanked straight out of The Maltese Falcon. The film's only drawback is that Spielberg is too much the humanist to provide the pitiless ending that reflects true film noirs. As Minority Report's detective hero, I'm confident Cruise was willing to accept the worst. I hope he'll get another chance.
CityBeat grade: B.
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