Fun, but flawed

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2002)

Steven Spielberg directing. Tom Cruise starring. And a Philip K.
Dick short story as the backbone. You'd think "Minority Report"
would be fantastic. Although the movie is an enjoyable thriller, the
plot's so creaky that by the time it reaches the conclusion, you feel
compelled to cut off a couple of points.
(Since I'm coming to this late, I'll assume everyone knows the
basics of the plot and avoid a recap.)
The greatest sin of the movie is the number of subplots thrown at
the viewer which are then discarded like used tissues. For
example, Cruise is being bird-dogged by an FBI agent who seems
committed to bringing down the whole "precrime" enterprise. The
agent wants to get inside the "temple" where Precrime keeps the
"precogs." Can't do that, Cruise insists. It would contaminate the
blah blah blah (some technobabble better left forgotten).
The agent says he's got a warrant and he'll enter anyway. (I guess
by 2054, cops don't need probable cause of a crime to get a
warrant.) Any further word about this contamination ruining the
precogs' work? Nope.
Then there's a meeting midway through the movie between Cruise
and a back-alley plastic surgeon. The surgeon and Cruise have
some history ... which ultimately has nothing to do with the plot.
And the surgeon floats a don't-do-that-or-you'll-go-blind plot
element that gets ignored for the rest of the movie.
The climax involves a scene with Cruise and the antagonist. It
seems to revolve around the central issue of the movie: Must we
carry forward a prescripted destiny or do we have control over our
own fates? A deep, deep issue. Unfortunately for the climax, it was
answered 30 minutes earlier in the movie.
All this wouldn't be so annoying if Steven Spielberg weren't the
director. Did he do this movie just to get someone to stop
bothering him? Maybe all his movies have a hundred nits to pick,
but these plot holes seemed the most glaring -- and detracted
from what was otherwise a fun thriller.