*** 1/2 out of ****

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2002)

Spielberg's sci-fi film noir about a police officer (Tom Cruise) in the pre-crime division, a division of law enforcement that predicts who's going to commit a murder, is entertaining and thought provoking. While it has the darkness and plot twists of a 1940s film-noir, it also falls into many of the genre's cliches, not to mention the fact that a happy ending manages to destroy much of the power of being a film-noir. Still, the movie excels despite these limitations, and while short of being a masterpiece, it is a solid effort.