"MINORITY REPORT"
Starring Tom Cruise, Max Von Sydow, Collin Farrell
Directed by Steven "I apologize for A.I.—truly, I'm very sorry" Spielberg
Running Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Released June 21, 2002
Rated PG-13

Steven Spielberg can actually be eloquent… when he steps down from the pulpit.

It's refreshing to see a tight, well-executed detective thriller set against a speculative future landscape (think "Blade Runner", but only superficially—both films are based on stories by Philip K. Dick) from which interesting philosophies and moralizing are culled merely as a byproduct of the polished narrative. Notorious of late for preaching through his films, Spielberg has once again concentrated on story elements first, allowing inherent messages to bubble to the surface naturally. Although the film IS thought provoking, the thrust of the story is character driven. A transparent agenda, evident in recent Spielbergian offerings, is replaced by intriguing cinematography, quality acting, and a classic "whodunit" mystery.

In 2054, a new form of police is given a test-run in Washington D.C. The "Ministry of Pre-Crime" uses three drug-enhanced precognitive humans to literally "see the future"; the squad is able to view chaotic images of future murders, determine the time and place they will occur, and use this foreknowledge to arrest would-be killers and arrest them for their crimes before they occur. Naturally, the nation is watching this with baited breath, simultaneously hopeful and wary. There hasn't been a murder in D.C. in six years, and—if given approval—the process will soon go nationwide.

Instead of pontificating and preaching ad nauseum about the dangerous implications and moral dilemmas, the movie zooms in to focus the personal lives of those involved. Ministry Director Burgess (Sydow) and his golden boy John Adderton (Cruise) are far more concerned about validating their system and maintaining control over their project, a jumble of personal pride and emotions and, for Adderton, a form of atoning for the guilt he feels over the loss of his son years earlier, and subsequent estrangement from his wife; his work—the pre-crime project—has consumed his life. When Detective Witwer (Ferrell), an interfering observer from the Attorney General (Ferrell), comes to "observe" their activities, questioning the infallibility of their precognitive system, Adderton is tense and off-balance. The next day, his own beloved system predicts that HE will commit the premeditated murder of a man he has never met; this event turns the hunter into the hunted—cop becomes criminal—sending Adderton, who refuses to believe his foretold future, on a quest that uncovers uncomfortable truths about his system, his friends, his adversaries, and himself.

The movie takes off at a running pace and rarely pauses for breath, taking literally the movie's advertising slogan that "everybody runs"; Spielberg appears to have approached this movie with a sharp editing eye to create a frenetic pace; perhaps he had assistance from his producer, Jan De Bont ("Speed"). "Report" has a recklessness one might expect from a young, eager director out to prove himself (some of the camera angles are reminiscent of an early Sam Raimi), yet with the seasoned polish one expects of a veteran director. The blend is smooth and keeps one attentive, and doesn't allow Cruise (or any actor, for that matter) to chew scenery or outshine the story itself. The acting is controlled, expertly directed and nuanced. The design of the film allows characters (particularly smaller, supporting characters) to be larger than life, (in an almost pulp-detective fashion) but the story's ceiling is high enough so that they are never over the top. Obviously influenced by the styles of Ridley Scott, Stanley Kubrick, and Alfred Hitchcock, it does not seem like shameless borrowing, but rather a mature director still willing to learn from his predecessors and peers.

The issues that, in the tight pacing of the story, seem only peripheral, linger with the viewer as they leave; this makes them far less "Oliver-Stone-in-your-face", and far more fascinating for the-drive-home pondering. Roger Ebert says of minority report: "'Blade Runner,' also inspired by a Dick story, shows a future world in decay; 'Minority Report' offers a more optimistic preview." I can't entirely agree; though it appears in Blade Runner that our nation seems more "third-world" and fragmented, the dangers of the future in Minority Report are simply the reverse. Beyond the obvious ethical concern (arresting people for "future crimes") we see that retinal scanners are virtually everywhere you go, invading privacy; as Adderton walks through a mall, advertisements personalized to his name and profile bombard him, calling out to him; when he walks into The Gap, it instantly begins speaking about previous purchases it registers that he has made and suggesting complementary items. The "Big Brother" phenomenon is in full effect… police even have the authority to release tiny, spider-like retinal scanners into an apartment building; they crawl into each room, invading people's homes without warrants and crawling over small, frightened children, even interrupting couples in coitus. And the "pre-cog" humans seem to have no rights whatsoever, drugged and wired and exploited for their talents without question. A future less bleak than Blade Runner? I don't think so. Technologically on the upswing, but just as questionable in regard to social structure and civil rights; it might simply be a neighboring city.

Even more intriguing is the notion of foreknowledge and predestination, which by and large is coherent, consistent, and meaningful. People are guilty for what they will do, guilty by their premeditation, worthy of punishment even though the authorities—within the film's fantastical premise— transcend time and halt the act from actually transpiring. It is a pretty accurate view of man through God's transcendent eyes; in the same way he paid the debt for my present day sins millennia before they were actually committed, and the fact that they had not yet occurred meant nothing; as Adderton insists, when he rolls a ball toward the edge of the table and Witwer frantically catches it: "you caught it because it was going to fall. Just because you caught it doesn't change the fact that it was going to happen."

The movie's literal premise aside (the idea that humans obtain this future-casting power), "Minority Report" suggests quite a bit about mankind's control over their fate. Without God, we would be nothing but slaves to fate; only a force that transcends time, as in the film, could possibly alter a fated course, circumventing cause and effect and our own inclinations. Indeed, the film even suggests that the power of the pre-cogs has caused some to worship them like deities; the fact that these altered humans possess foreknowledge lends them a godlike power, and people naturally recognize that ability as an attribute of a sovereign lord.

Hand in hand with foreknowledge of people's actions, the movie demonstrates, is the fact that anyone who possesses it truly controls the destiny of those people, and can affect it according to their will. It's appropriate to note here that in liberal Christian circles, some "theologians" are again attempting to reinterpret scripture, stripping God of his foreknowledge when it is an obvious and essential trait. It frightens some people to think that God has foreknowledge—and subsequently a sovereign control—over people's destiny (and destination). For some reason, they seem to think they must have that control, as though they might handle it better than God.

In the end, without being heavy-handed, "Minority Report" winds up as a cautionary tale, the same type of story Shelley told in Frankenstein; just as man has no right toying with resurrection from death, (Dr. Frankenstein's monster), he has no right playing in God's omniscient arena. Under the "legitimate" guise of science, evolution, or mind-altering drugs, accessing the future is still divination, seeking to play God. This will only end in disaster… not necessarily because of the systems, tools, or processes involved, but—as Spielberg's "Report" unveils—because it is still in the hands of fallen men with deceitful hearts, wicked agendas, and a sinful nature.