MPAA Rating: PG-13/Genre: Sci-Fi Noir/Stars: Tom Cruise, Max von Sydow, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Neal McDonough, Patrick Kilpatrick, Michael Dickman, Matthew Dickman, Lois Smith, Kathryn Morris, Mike Binder, Steve Harris, Jessica Harper, Tim Blake Nelson, Daniel London, Peter Stormare, Jessica Capshaw, Tyler Patrick Jones, Jason Antoon, Nancy Linehan Charles, Victor Raider-Wexler, Arye Gross, Ashley Crow, David Stifel, Anna Maria Horsford, Joel Gretsch, Tom Choi, Frank Grillo/Runtime: 145 minutes

I think it can safely be said that, throughout the course of cinema history, there have been more than a few instances where a certain actor and a certain director have just meshed incredibly well together and the ensuing results of their collaborative union if you will have been nothing short of iconic. Yet besides Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood, John Ford and John Wayne, Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson, Scorsese and either De Niro or Di Caprio (dependent on generation), and Toshiro Mifune & Akira Kurosawa for my international film fans out there among other noteworthy examples, there is one that I don’t think perhaps gets nearly as much attention as it really ought to. That being the collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise (admit it though: you thought that I was going to say Tom Hanks didn’t you?). Yes, their collaborations have (as of this writing) only extended to a pair of films, 4 if you include their cameos in the third Austin Powers movie and Spielberg’s cameo in 2001’s Vanilla Sky, but even so this is definitely one pairing that I feel deserves a lot more love than it has gotten. Not just because it’s arguably one of the greatest film directors of the past 4-5 decades and one of the most iconic film stars of….well the same amount of time actually, but also because one of the slices of cinema they worked on together is really good (2005’s War of the Worlds or rather the take that Morgan Freeman narrated) and the other is easily one of the more underrated efforts in both this respective duo’s individual filmographies. That latter slice of cinema, and film that I happen to be reviewing for you today incidentally (who woulda thunk it?), is a sci-fi action mystery from 2002 known as Minority Report and I can’t lie dear reader: I have no doubt that this is most likely not the first or maybe even the tenth slice of cinema you might think of when you think of movies made by either Steven Spielberg or Tom Cruise. With that said though, I definitely think it’s time you changed that. I say that because here is a stylish, incredibly constructed, and phenomenally performed film that might be not perfect nor will it be for everyone, but for those who are willing to let it take them by the hand on the close to 2 and a half hour (including credits) journey that it is wanting you to embark upon, I promise you will find more than just a wonderful example of the sci-fi genre of movie magic at its finest. Rather, I promise you will find a film that is easily one of the best that the year 2002 sought fit to give audiences to say nothing of a film that will both keep you on the edge of your seat whilst also giving you some things to seriously ponder both during the film itself and after the end credits have begun to roll in equal measure.

The plot is as follows: A loose adaptation of a novella from 1956 known as “The Minority Report” by iconic sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick (A Scanner Darkly, Total Recall, and *of course* Blade Runner), Minority Report gets its riveting narrative underway by taking us to the iconic locale of Washington D.C. in the “far-off year” of 2054 where we see that, unlike the version of DC we all know from the nightly news, this one is different in a key aspect. No it’s not that there are no more ambitious politicians nor is it a lack of traffic on the roads (in regards to the latter I would actually have to say that might have gotten a bit worse based on what we see here). Rather, it’s the fact that not only have premeditated acts of homicide been all but wiped out, but even the level of crimes of passion that occur is lower than it has been at time in recorded human history. Now before you ask me dear reader: no this good fortune for our species is not because humanity has been wiped out nor is it because this is merely nothing more than a merciless trick being played on us by a race of beings from another planet. Rather, it is because of the efforts of an program known as Precrime. A program that, through the utilization of visions shared by a trio of people gifted with clairvoyant abilities (or precogs for short), is able to dispatch an elite team of officers to a given location and arrest someone before they are able to commit the murder the precogs foresaw them committing. Indeed the Precrime program has been so successful that, when our story gets underway, we see that it is a week out from an important legislative vote which, if passed, would permit the program to be implemented nationwide. It is also at this point that we meet our main character in the form of the Precrime chief, a guy by the name of John Anderton. A guy who, despite his remarkably skill at his job and devotion to the officers under his command, is also plagued with a few demons of his own. Namely not only being separated from his wife Laura, but also a severe case of depression and even a heavy dependency on a narcotic known as neuroin due to the unsolved abduction of their 6-year-old son Sean. As gloomy as our hero’s life is however, we see that it isn’t long into our story before things get a lot worse. This is because we soon see that, whilst the program is being audited by a persistent DOJ operative, our hero himself is accused by the Precogs of the future murder of a guy named Leo Crow despite having never met the victim before to say nothing of having zero idea why he would even want to kill the guy in the first place. Thus, with his team now attempting to hunt him down and the clock ticking before this crime is to take place, can our hero find out why he is being set up or will he find himself becoming the latest “success story” for a program that he helped ensure was this successful in the first place? That I will leave for you to discover….

Now right off, it should be said that the work done by the various departments behind the camera on this cinematic outing is nothing short of incredible. This, to no surprise, starts with the work done by cinematic icon Steven Spielberg at the helm and here he shows why he has long been seen as a master of the medium. Indeed, despite its sci-fi rooted premise, we see that Spielberg do a brilliant job at really letting the noir elements at the heart of this slice of cinema really take center stage in a way that would make such directors as the great John Huston proud. Key among those being not only really doing a wonderful job of populating this film with a world of characters that you might see in a film noir from the past, a complex and multilayered narrative, and presenting said narrative to us in a non-linear fashion, but also the creative choice to bleach-bypass the film negative in the midst of post-production. I say this because by making the choice to do this, we see that Spielberg and his team are able to desaturate 99.8% of the color in the film to such an extent that it gives the darker colors to say nothing of the lengthy and immersive shadows present in the film a higher contrast much like what one might have seen in Huston’s The Maltese Falcon for example. Alongside that, I also think praise should be afforded to Spielberg and his team for doing a terrific job of ensuring that, despite the film taking place in the future, it definitely feels a lot more grounded and truer to reality than a lot of sci-fi films have chosen to be either before or since this was first released back in 2002. As a result, yes there are elements of this film that might seem a bit far-fetched, but by and large the film is able to come across to an audience as not entirely outside the realm of implausibility due to feeling like it is taking place in a world not that dissimilar to our own including such components as eye scans and even the utilization of 3D screens. A creative choice that can also be seen through such wonderful work done by such departments as the costume department, the production design department, and even in the work done by the stunt crew (even if I still am on the waiting list for both one of the jetpacks and the affectionately named Sick Stick utilized by the Precrime officers). Lastly, this section would definitely not be complete if I didn’t take some time to praise the work done by iconic movie maestro John Williams in regards to the score for this film. Indeed not only is Williams’ score quite thrilling and even moving fairly consistently throughout, but the utilization of such elements as a female singer performing at certain points really does help this feel like a long-lost film noir score that might have been composed by Bernard Herrmann back in the day for 1957’s The Wrong Man or 1951’s On Dangerous Ground. Indeed if there is one issue to be found with this slice of cinema it’s in the work done on the aforementioned narrative to this film. Not that the story or the thematic concepts it’s working with aren’t intriguing. Far from it actually. Rather, it’s the fact that because of how complicated and intricate the narrative can become this slice of cinema is one that definitely requires you to be on your feet throughout and as such it can become a bit too complicated for its own good. Even with that hiccup aside, there is no denying that the work done behind the camera on this film is more than just remarkable. Rather, it is no less than proof of movie magic at its finest.

Of course, besides the aforementioned fairly top-tier work done in front of the camera, it also doesn’t hurt this film that this phenomenal degree of quality also extends to the work done in front of the camera as well. I say this not only because everyone involved looks like they are having a blast playing in this particular cinematic sandbox, but because they all bring their individual A-game to their work here as well no matter how big or small their amount of screentime may be. Without question, this starts with Tom Cruise in the lead role of John Anderton and he does a fantastic job here. Indeed as Anderton, Cruise gives us a guy who, flaws aside, is not only steadfast in his belief in this system, but also someone who has even sacrificed a significant portion of his humanity in the process due to his job and other factors. As the film goes on however, we see that not only does he slowly get his eyes opened to the potential flaws in this system he has been a long-standing champion for, but he also finds himself regaining his humanity as well. Suffice it to say it’s a truly commanding performance and one that fits Cruise to say nothing of his talents as an actor immensely well. Synching up beautifully with the work done by Cruise is the more than capable efforts of a more than up to the job support cast. This starts with Colin Farrell who is delightfully on-point as DOJ Agent Danny Witwer. To be sure, this character is very much one that you are never entirely sure what to make of and Farrell does a terrific job at really playing into that by bringing to the screen an equal mix of smarmy, arrogant, slightly lecherous, and yet also moments of respectability as well. We are also treated to an absolutely phenomenal, and quite substantive, turn from screen legend Max von Sydow as the Director of Precrime Lamar Burgess. Indeed, as Burgess, we see that Sydow does a wonderful job at giving us someone who is undeniably a surrogate father figure to Anderton and is able to convey for us a calm, steady, and even warm at points authoritative presence that helps to not only ground the film, also bring it a touch of class that only an actor of Sydow’s caliber could truly bring to a slice of cinema such as this. Lastly, I definitely feel I would be very much in the minority if I didn’t take some time in this section to talk about the remarkable work done by Samantha Morton in the role of the Precog known simply as Agatha (a name that old school mystery fans are sure to know the significance of). Indeed this is a very tricky role to play since for a large chunk of the film she is treated less as a character and more like an enigmatic plot device before then getting the chance to reveal the woman behind the mystery and all the intricate layers and emotional baggage she comes with. Even so however, there is no denying that Morton is genuinely heartbreakingly good here. Suffice it to say that when you also include wonderful efforts from such talents as Steve Harris, Kathryn Morris, Neal McDonough, Lois Smith, Jessica Harper (Suzy from Suspiria!), the always delightful Tim Blake Nelson, and a brief yet gloriously unhinged turn from Peter Stormare among others it’s clear that there might be a few issues here and there, but the work done by this impeccably chosen cast is most assuredly not one of them.

All in all and at the end of the day is Minority Report a perfect slice of cinema? Honestly no though most assuredly by no means due to lack of effort on the part of either cast or crew. With that being said, is this the worst entry in either its lead star or celebrated helmer’s respective filmographies? Not by a long shot though in all fairness I can’t really think of all that many blemishes on either of that pair’s respective individual resumes so make of that what you will. With that being said, it should be noted that I really do dig the heck out of this slice of cinema dear reader. To be sure, the complex narrative that this film is operating with might confuse some of you out there and there is definitely an argument which could be made that says that this slice of cinema does run perhaps a bit too long for its own good. With that said however, the direction from its nothing short of legendary helmer is rock solid, the rest of the work done behind the camera is absolutely phenomenal, and the work done by the immensely talented, to say nothing of extremely well chosen, cast of players in front of the camera led by an absolutely electric Tom Cruise all manage to join forces in order to make this particular sci-fi rooted mystery one that is both worth pursuing time and time again as well as definitely worth thinking about long after the credits have begun to roll.  Just whatever you do don’t check out the sequel TV series that came after this in 2015 and which aired on Fox. Not that it’s terrible or anything, but let’s just say you don’t exactly need the aid of a Precog to see why exactly that particular television show only lasted a single season whilst this slice of cinema has managed to endure for over a solid 2 decades and counting since it first came out all the way back in the long-ago year of 2002. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give Minority Report “02” a solid 4 out of 5.