Minority Report

Reviewed by John Chiafos
April 30, 2006

Director: Steven Spielberg Studio: Dreamworks \ 20 th Century Fox MPAA: PG-13 for violence, brief language, some sexuality and drug content Review Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Tom Cruise as John Anderton with one of the Precogs. Click image to enlarge.

“Murder! Murder!” gasps Agatha (Samantha Morton), helpless in a bed of liquid sci-fi goop, her muscles atrophied from years of non-use, her brain wired to a computer designed to monitor her psychic abilities.

This opening line in Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, Minority Report, sets the tone for this crack-dose of a Hollywood thrill ride that pays homage to many classic films—in the best Spielbergian tradition—and breathes new life into the sci-fi thriller genre. In fact, it's a genre-buster in the best sense of the term.

Tom Cruise (think what you want about him—most of his movies rock) stars as detective John Anderton, a loser cop trying to drown memories of his son's kidnapping in drugs and excess. He works for Washington DC 's experimental Precrime Unit, which uses drugged-up captive psychics to predict murders. In a few short months of Precrime, DC has become murder-free, and its Director, John Burgess (Max Von Snydow), is pushing to take Precrime national.

But then the tables are turned, and the psychics—called Precogs—implicate Anderton in a future murder. Anderton goes on the run, looking for whoever set him up… and journeys into the deepest, darkest corners of his nature.

The film is a complex mystery, a sci-fi thriller, a police procedural, and a film noir all wrapped up in one… and it's among the best in each of these genres. The script, by Scott Frank and Jon Cohen, pulses with dialogue every bit as good as The Maltese Falcon . The action scenes give you the same jolts of excitement that you felt when watching Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time . The performances by Cruise, Von Snydow, Morton, and Farrell are downright pyrotechnic. Cruise gives the best performance of his career… and I'm surprised Colin Farrell isn't a $20 million-a-picture star by now, in spite of Alexander . Spielberg was on fire when he made this film. He's at his best doing big Hollywood movies like this one; it's the best he's made since Saving Private Ryan .

Minority Report deserves a high Evo Factor. In fifteen years, this film will be remembered as one of Spielberg's best. It's not for young kids (it stretches the PG-13 rating a bit), and it's a bit gross in spots—especially when Cruise's eyes are taken out by a sick under-the-table surgeon—but it's a phenomenal thriller... well worth the time if you're in the mood for a popcorn movie.

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