Minority Report

REVIEW
Maybe working with Kubrick on A.I. rubbed off. Maybe it's the source material. Or maybe, just maybe, it's a case in which one of Hollywood's most successful directors continues to mature. Whatever the reason, Spielberg has taken cult writer Philip K. Dick's short story and turned it into a mesmerizing, thrilling and intelligent sci-fi adventure. Minority Report is darker than anything he's done before, and offers an uneasy glimpse of the future that's as accomplished for its time as Blade Runner (also based on a P.K. Dick story) was in its. In a strong performance that is thankfully devoid of smirkiness, Cruise plays John Anderton, a top cop for the elite Pre-Crime unit. It seems in the year 2054, psychics can predict murder before it happens, and the guilty are arrested before they can commit the crime. Events spiral out of control for Anderton when he is marked as a would-be killer, sending him on a quest to prove his innocence of a crime he hasn't committed against a man he doesn't even know. Farrell impresses as a government observer looking for flaws in the system, and who turns into a formidable adversary for Anderton. Morton also registers as one of the psychics who holds the key to a long-buried secret. Despite an ending bordering on the cliché, Minority Report is an imaginative epic whose state-of-the-art effects are never allowed to overshadow its compelling, thoughtful characters. This illustrious marriage of humanity, vision and technique is what makes Minority Report an original and most entertaining experience.