A Man On The Run From A Crime He May or May NOT Commit

Rating: 10/10 (25 August 2002)

Spielberg's latest opus is a tremendously energetic science fiction/suspense thriller set in the year 2053 that is extremely timely now given the current climate of fear and paranoia in our country.
Tom Cruise is the head cop of a unique Washington D.C. law enforcement agency known as Pre-Crime. The agency's purpose is to stop crimes before they have a chance to be committed, and there are three Pre-Cogs (pre-cognitive beings) that can see these crimes of the future. Max von Sydow is the CEO of Pre-Crime who is anxious to take his creation to a national level, given that it has reduced the D.C. murder rate down to zero. But an ambitious assistant attorney general (Colin Farrell) has put a flaw into the system, and the Pre-Cogs envision a murder to be committed by Cruise himself. Soon, Cruise is on the run, trying to prove his innocence but also needing to know how things are going to turn out.
Based on a 1956 short story by Phillip K. Dick, whose writings provided the basis for TOTAL RECALL and BLADE RUNNER, MINORITY REPORT, even at 135 minutes, is energetic, fast-paced, and hugely suspenseful. Under Spielberg's usual top-notch direction, Cruise gives another fine performance as the hero of the piece; and Samantha Morton is equally fine as the Pre-Cog named Agatha, who assists him. The visual effects work of Industrial Light & Magic is quite incredible, the look of the film is stunning, and John Williams contributes another innovative score of the same stripe he gave to A.I., Spielberg's previous and unjustly maligned movie.
Combining the obvious science fiction futurism with elements of the crime and psychological thriller genres, MINORITY REPORT is a film that must be seen more than once for the viewer to absorb every little nuance, because there are many such nuances throughout this film. The result is the finest film of the year 2002.