Finally, a satisfying Spielberg

Rating: 6/10 (9 July 2002)

At last, a movie that will satisfy and thrill, that will fill you up with special effects and still manage to tickle your brain cells as well.
Minority Report is one of the best sci-fi films made in the last 20 years. Tom Cruise gives a multi-layered, humanistic performance as Pre-crime detective John Anderton, a man bruised to the bone by grief and driven by the necessity of his work. Anderton is compelled to be perfect at his job, ever since the death of his young son years earlier. He knows he's good, and so does everyone else, especially the young FBI agent who wants Anderton's job for himself and tries to discredit him.
The action is intelligent, not noisy and flashy. The special effects, most notably the car-chase scene, are just dazzling, but not so much fantasy that they strike a false note.
The plot is beautifully put together, weaving two stories into one, and chugging along seamlessly, without any noticeable holes or questions afterward. Rarely is a film so well constructed that it raises no questions, but this one is just such a film. All your questions are answered, and without any "deus ex machina" plot devices.
The supporting cast is excellent. Max von Sydow, as Pre-crime Director Lamar Burgess, gives a classy, well-drawn performance, as does Samantha Morton, the sensitive, fragile pre-cog, who tries to help Anderton beat the frameup which threatens to put him away forever.
The future in this film is a completely believable one, for a change; unlike the one in A.I., Spielberg's last attempt at a sci-fi film. There is enough of this world still left in the future world of Minority Report that we know where we are, and can relate to it. That makes this film all the more believable and realistic.
I heartily applaud this effort. Well worth seeing more than once, and deserving of some greater recognition than it probably will get. A superior film.