Review 176: Minority Report
Loosely based on the short story The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick, In the year 2054, For six years, Washinton D.C. has been murder-free thanks to specialized mutated humans known as "Precogs", who previsualize crimes before they are commited. But when John Anderton (Tom Cruise), the cheif of the Precime Unit is himself accused of a future murder, he has just 36 hours to discover who set him up - or he'll fall victim to the "perfect" system he helped create.
In terms of genre and technique, Minority Report combines elements of Tech noir, whodunit, thriller, sci fi and crime.
According to Spielberg, the story is "50% character and 50% very complicated storytelling with layers and layers of murder mystery and plot.
The core themes of Minority Report are Free will vs determinism, the nature of political and legal systems in a technologicaly advanced society, the rights of privacy in a media dominated world and self perception.
Free will vs determinism: Can free will exist if the future is set and known in advance? There's philisophical tension because we want Anderton's free will to win over determinism.
Political and Legal: The arrest of criminals before they've commited a crime, as depicted in the film, has some real-world background in post-9/11 America
Media:
Minority Report also deals with Spielberg's theme of depicting broken families. A big part of John Anderton's character is how the loss of his son and his divorce from his wife affects him.
Spielberg's direction helping to the cinematography is staggering; the film is deliberately overlit, the film negative bleach-bypassed giving the the Bernard Herrman inspired score by John Williams is and fits the films Noir tone. A beautifully unique blend of high flutes, woodwind, harps and vocal harmonies to create a
Tom Cruise in the role of John Anderton
Colin Farrell doesn't lag far behind playing Department of Justice agent Danny Witwer Cruise and Farrell have an infectious screen chemistry
Samantha Morton has possibly the most challenging role in the film playing precog, Agatha Lively. Thankfully, she nailed it.
Max von Sydow
Neal McDonough, Peter Stormare round out the films
5/5.
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