Rife with clever Spiebergian invention!

Rating: Null/10 (22 June 2002)

52 years hence, life on earth is still recognizable and different. The storyboards required to convert Philip Dick's story to film had to cover every wall in the Spielberg household. He impresses as the kind of director obsessed with perfection whether at home, at work or wherever he is breathing air. Were it not so long, this film would be flawless.
It's rife with clever Spiebergian inventions. The 2054 products, foods, institutions and the toys he preserves are all favorites of mine ... evolved for the changing times. Butcher-run, ghettoized `eyeball swap' shops have replaced back-alley abortion clinics, in this case, one operated by Peter Stormare (Fargo!) who is truly in his element here. The dialog is smart, economical and funny. It syncs with the likable, highly plausible Cruise, Van Sydow and Morton (et al) characters. Scientific advances have drained the supply of miracles people need; hope is on the wane. And yet the common cold persists uncured. The story weaves 100 such elements of life on planet earth as an entertaining backdrop. Watch closely to 95% of them. Five viewings may be necessary to catch them all.
The plot deals with 3 people gifted with pre-cognition (seeing things before they occur), with a focus on murder. The Wash DC cops have a pre-crime division to act on their visions. Wash DC thus now has the lowest murder rate in the country. The PreCogs ability to see murder but not a non-murder crime is plausibly explained (a death tears the fabric of life, whereas another crime creates but a ripple in the cloth). The plot, the characters  they all work . . . I even liked the music (classic John Williams).

Cruise is at his best since Eyes Wide Shut and Risky Business.
So first see Bourne Identity which earned a 10 from me; then see Minority Report on the big screen (9) because it'll lose impact on DVD.