Preamble
I'm not into Science Fiction. Star Wars? blehhhhh.... A.I.? You've got to be kidding! So why Minority Report?

Hmmmm....Well, I like Tom Cruise. Have ever since Risky Business. True Confession - I still haven't forgiven him for dumping Nicole. I'm hoping one day that he'll see the error of his ways. Fortunately, I was able to put aside my personal bias towards his personal life stupidity (Penelope Cruz has all the brains of a gold fish) and catch this flik tonight.

Anyway, I am utterly impressed. Seriously. By the time the movie ended, I had just caught my breath. WOW!!!

The Story
It's 2054 in Washington D.C. Do you know where your kids are? Don't worry if you don't because their chances of being murdered are slim to none. That's because of a system that was put in place six years ago - the pre-crime unit.

Detective John Anderton (Tom Cruise) heads up the experimental unit and his key goal is to save the lives of others. What's his motivation? Six months before the inception of the pre-crime unit, John's son Sean was killed. It destroyed his marriage with wife Lara (Kathryn Morris) and led him to a life of loneliness.

How does the pre-crime unit work? Three pre-cogs, who are pretty much isolated in a pond-like tank, are able to see future murders occur. They record the events and alert the pre-crime unit, via red balls, of the intended victim(s) and intended murderer.

One day, John is showing a visitor from the Justice Department, the pre-cogs and explaining the process. As every one files out, John bends down and tries to get the attention of the female pre-cog known as Agatha (Samantha Morton). She grabs him and mutters something. After being freed from her, John returns inside to see that his future contains a murder. Yep, he's destined to murder a fellow within 36 hours, by the name of Leo Crow (Mike Binder). Perplexed by this information, John goes on the run.

Does John actually murder Leo?

Does John get caught and put away for almost committing a crime?

Did John get set up?

All this, and much much more, can be yours, if you go now and watch this movie!

The Great
Everything. Thank you for visiting, please come again.

Alright, if you must know.

My husband told me that this movie was based upon a short story by Phillip K. Dick. I haven't a clue how close this is to the real story however, I do know a good story when I see it. Screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen wrote some fantastic stuff. They were even able to insert some comical moments into the script. Yes folks, you'll find yourself laughing out loud in the midst of all of the tragedies.

Mr. Brilliant Spielberg did a superb job at setting up the entire plot along with grounding all of the main characters in our mind. When Tom started his run, I didn't have any issues with the way any of the characters acted towards him. Although I must admit, I kinda knew the end all along (I'm so smart - not ;) ). I thoroughly enjoyed the ride that Steven took me on. My only teeny-tiny complaint is that I feel like he rushed the last ten minutes. Sure, the movie was kind of long, but I would have been willing to sit there an extra ten minutes.

Tom was his usual, fantastic self. Clothed or unclothed (only chest shots girls), he looked fantastic and made my heart go pitter patter. On a serious note, the anguish he felt over the death of his son felt pretty real to me. I must give kudos to Tom for coming a long way since his Top Gun days.

Wanna know who the runaway star was? It was Samantha Morton. The only time I've ever caught her was in the movie version of Jane Eyre. She was stunning here, just totally stunning. As a pre-cog, the other characters treated her like she was non-human and in that situation she had this layer of strong emotion pinned under a very calm and dead-like presence. I don't know how else to say that :). In a scene she has towards the end of the movie with Tom Cruise and Kathryn Morris, she gives sort of a monologue that almost brought me to tears. She better be nominated for Best Supporting Actress!!!

Special Effects
So you wanna know about these? I'm sure you heard (and saw) the futuristic cars. Those were okay but what I liked better were the spiders. There were these metallic/robotic spiders that could scan peoples eyes and identify who they were. The flight suits worn by the police within the pre-crime unit were pretty cool too :).

The Gore Factor
Girls, I know this is important. I don't like going to the movie where most of it consists of blood and gross things. Rest assured that the gore here is minimal. There was only one part that I had my eyes closed for - and that was probably 30 seconds. From the dialog, I knew it was coming. See?! Wasn't that nice of Mr. Spielberg?! :)

Rant
I've saved this part for last just in case you want to skip over it.

Pre-September 11, I think that the whole idea (in this movie) of technology acting like Big Brother would have caused a big stink in the media. For instance, as Tom is wandering the mall, he can't make a move without cameras and scanners on him. No matter where he goes, he's identified by technology. On one hand, I tried to think what it would be like to live in a world like that. That seemed kind of scary. On the other hand, if we lived in a world like that, would we be any safer? Is it worth the trade offs?

These are things that keep me up at night. Kudos to Mr. Spielberg for directing a movie that makes you think AND entertains.


Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older