Minority Report "Everybody runs..."

 

 

 

 

Right, time for another movie review and yep this is another revisited post but its quite an old one and the film in question is one I watched quite recently again and it is the sci-fi thriller, Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. 

So, after nearly 20 years, how does Minority Report still stack up? Well, let's delve into it once again and find out...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!

STORY

OK, so the film is set in the future in the year 2054 in Washington D.C. and its main character John Anderon (Tom Cruise) is the chief of a police force known as Pre-Crime.  Pre-crime is given its name as they use three genetically mutated humans who have precognitive abilities, and with them the force are able to prevent crimes before they happen as the "precogs" can see them before they happen.

Anderton is well respected in his department however unknown to them he is outside his work addicted to a psychoactive drug called clarity, which has been taking since the disappearance of his son six years ago.  With the success of pre-crime in Washington, it is is set to go nationwide, as there hasn't been a recorded murder there for six years.  Before this though the system is audited by a member of the United States Justice Department, Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) who is concerned by flaws in the system, even though Anderton insists it is perfect. 

However after the visit, one of the precogs, Agatha (Samantha Morton) in a state of alarm, grabs Anderton and shows him an image of a drowned woman. Anderton investigates the image and discovers the woman in question was called Ann Lively and he takes the information to director of Pre-Crime, Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow).  The next day however, the precogs predict another murder and the victim is a man, Leo Crowe but the murderer is revealed to be Anderton himself, much to his surprise, he decides to flee the building.

After eluding his men and Witwer, Anderton goes to visit Dr Iris Hineman (Lois Smith) the lead researcher for pre-crime technology.  Hineman reveals to Anderton that sometimes the three precogs can actually see different versions of the future, on which two sets of the data are used to reach an agreement, and the other vision is discarded as a "minority" report, which could see the predicted killer actually carry out different actions in the future.  Anderton asks which precog would see this minority report and Hineman says it would be in Agatha (Samantha Morton) the most talented of the three.  

After this Anderton decides to undergo eye replacement surgery so he won't be detected by the city's optical recognition system and then gains entry to the precrime police department where he kidnaps Agatha.  Anderton takes Agatha to a hacker, who wires her up to see if she has a minority report for him, but she doesn't however she suddenly receives an image of Anne Lively, which Agatha previously showed to Anderton the day before he was incriminated.

Anderon heads with Agatha to the apartment where he is supposed to kill Crow, and on entering the room Anderton finds hundreds of pictures of children, one of which is Andeton's son, Sean.  Anderton then soon accepts that he is supposed to murder Crow, who suddenly enters room, and Anderton holds him at gunpoint but decides to let him live.  Crow however then tells Anderton that he is supposed to kill him and if he doesn't his family won't receive a bif payoff.  Anderton refuses to kill Crow, but Crow instead grabs the gun and shoots himself, falling out the window, bringing the vision to light.

Anderton then flees with Agatha and goes to his ex-wife, Lara (Kathryn Morris) where he learns from Agatha that the image of Anne Lively that was actually another murder, and that Lively was Agatha's drug addicted mother.  However at this point the police catch up with Anderton, who arrest him and take Agatha back and place her back into the system.  

Witwer however is not convinced that Anderton could have killed Crow and examines the footage of Anne Lively's murder, realising that the ripples of the water are flowing in the wrong way in the footage (as Anne was drowned) it suggests, the killing took place at a different time, and what appears to have happened is the recording would have been wiped as an "echo" so the system wouldn't have caught it. Witwer tells Lamar of his findings however Lamar then shoots Witwer dead as its clear that he himself was responsible for Anne Lively's murder and he framed Anderton to get him out of the way.

And from here its clear that Lamar must be stopped and a way must be found to clear Anderton's name and expose Lamar for the murder...   

THOUGHTS 

Based on the short novel by science fiction writer, Philip K.Dick, Minority Report is an excellent sci-fi thriller, and it easily stands as one of Steven Spielberg's best films in recent years, after spending some time having made some decidedly average films since making the powerful holocaust drama, Schindler's List.  

The plot itself is pretty convoluted but it does tell an interesting story and the concept of precrime is quite original in itself.  And again the film's theme of alternate existances and choices is what also helps make Minority Report an intruiging film in that there is that slight chance of one person that is arrested and tried might not necessarily be guilty of murder and who's actions might not have gone according to the precog's visions.  

And at one point Anderton recognises this as he says to Dr Hineman that he might have "haloed" (a headset used to incapacitate criminals and later they are sent into a sleep state in a prison encasing) people with an alternate future.  And its to Spielberg's credit that he was able to take Dick's novel and turn it into an effective and suspenseful film.

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!) 

Which brings me onto the film's performances and the cast are all on excellent form here.

Starting with Tom Cruise, who is pretty good in the lead role as John Anderton.  Cruise play's Anderon in a pretty straight laced way and who is mostly a serious character with a sad past, and while he is well respected in his job he mourns for the loss of his son Sean, who disappeared six years previously.  

Tom has his share of good scenes starting with the one where Witwer is visiting Pre-Crime and Anderton drops one of the murder balls, which rolls on a counter and Witwer catches it before it lands on the floor. So, Anderton asks Witwer "Why did you catch that?" and Witwer says "Because it was going to fall" and Anderton asks "You certain" and Witwer says "Yeah" and Anderton says to him "But it didn't fall. You caught it. The fact that you prevented it from happening doesnt change the fact that it was "going" to happen". 

And later in the same scene after Witwer is shown the pre-cogs, Witwe tries to sympathise with Anderton over the news of the disappearance of his son several years ago but also makes reference to the precogs as if they were a religious sect. 

So, Witwer apologises to Anderton and says "Sorry, old habit, I spent three years at Fuller seminary before I became a cop. My father was very proud" and Anderton asks him "What does he think of your chosen line of work?" and Witwer tells him that his father had since been shot and killed in Dublin. So, Witwer continues "I know what it is like to lose someone. Still nothing is like the losing of a child, so I can only imagine what that must feel like. To lose your son in such a public place...". However, Anderton has had enough of Witwer's sympathy act and asks "What don't you cut the cute act, Danny boy and tell me exactly what it is you're looking for?" and Witer tells him "Flaws" and Anderton says "There hasn't been a murder for 6 years. There's nothing wrong with the system, its perfect" but Witwer warns him "I agree. But if there is a flaws, its human. It always is". 

Cruise for the most part does alot of running, and he does actually have one or two entertaining chase scenes, especially where he tries to flee from the precrime police force just after he learns of the precog vision of his murdering Crow.  And when his own police team mates, Fletch corners him, who tells him "Don't do it, don't run" and Anderton smiles and says "You don't have to chase me" and Fletch says "You don't have to run" and Anderston says "Everybody runs, Fletch! Everbody runs..." before Anderton runs off again.

Another good scene is when Anderton pays a visit to Dr Hineman to get her help and she tells him "this is is just not your week is it, chief Anderton?!" and Anderton, who was bitten by one of her plants and is suffering as a result quietly says to her "I'm not a killer". And as the two of the talk, Hineman reveals that the precogs on occassion do disagree with one another, which can result in a "minority report" which is generally erased. So, Anderton somewhat shocked asks Hineman "You mean I've haloed innocent people?!"and she tells him "I mean every so often, those accused of a crime might just have an alternate future". So, Anderton asks her "Does Lamar Burgess know about the minority report?" but she prattles on a bit, which forces Anderton to ask her again "Answer my question, does Lamar know about the minority report?" and she tells him "Yes of course he knew about it".

So, as they carry on, Hineman tells Anderton in order to obtain the minority report all he needs to do is go to pre-crime HQ and download it from the precog, who predicted it (i.e. Agatha). So, Anderton angrily says to Hineman "That's all, huh?  Just walk right into Precrime, go into the Temple, somehow tap into the Precogs, and then download this Minority Report?" and she tells him yes and Anderton angrily says to her "I'll get eye-scanned a DOZEN times before I get within ten miles of Precrime. They'll pick me up!". Anderton then finally asks "How do I even know which one has it?" and Hineman says "Its always within the more gifted of the three" and Anderton asks "Which one is that?" and she tells him "The female".    

Then there is the scene where Anderton goes to an ex-con doctor, Eddie Solomon to get an eye operation to remove his eyes and replace them so he won't be ID'd. 

So, in the scene Eddie tells Anderton "I'm going to remove your eyes and replace them competely" and Anderton says "I know that but I want to keep the old ones" and Eddie asks him "Why?" and Anderton replies "Because my mother gave them to me! What do you care? They're no good to you on the black market anyway". 

Then there is the scene where Anderton along with Agatha, who he captures from Precrime and takes with him arrives at the hotel room where the murder of Leo Crow is to take place and he finds pictures of his son, Sean, spread out all over the bed and he becomes emotional and resigned to his fate as he begins to accept he will murder Crowe.

So, Anderton emotionally says "Every day for the last six years I've thought about only two things.The first was what my son would look like if he were alive today. If I would even recognize him if I saw him on the street. The second was what I would do to the man who took him. You were right. I'm not being set up. I'm gonna kill this man". And as Crowe enters the room, Anderton violently grabs him and throws him onto the bed and demands that he tell him where his son is and Crowe confesses that he grabbed Anderton's son and drowned him in a barrel, which brings Anderton to very nearly kill Crowe but he relents at the last moment.

So, Anderton through his tears, tells Crowe "You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present now and during any future questioning.  If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights?". However, Crowe shocked at this reveals that he wants Anderton to kill him as he was told by someone that his family would be taken care of if he said that he killed Anderton's son and that Anderton would kill him. 

So, Crowe stunned by this information, steps toward Crowe and asks him "Who put you up to this? What his name?" and Crowe says "I don't know, I only heard his voice" and Crowe moves toward Crowe and puts his hand on the gun and Anderton calmly tells him "Crowe, let go of the gun, its ok, let go of the gun". And Crowe asks "Wait, so you're not gonna kill me? If you don't kill me, my family get's nothing" and Anderton says to him "Goodbye, Crowe" and Crowe suddenly grabs the gun by the trigger and forces Anderton to shoot him in the chest and Crowe falls out the window as Agatha predicted, who sits in the corner screaming.

WARNING: SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH OR TWO!

Max von Sydow is excellent in his role as the corrupt director of precrime, Lamar Burgess, who on the surface acts as Anderton's benefactor, but he ends up framing him to take the fall for Crow's murder and for the murder of Agatha's mother, Ann Lively.  

Sydow's best scene is where Witwer tells him what he has discovered about the Crow crime scene and Anne Lively's murder, and Lamar says "Do you hear that, Danny? Nothing. No footsteps coming up the stairs.  No hovercraft out the window.  No clickity click of little spyders.  No one crashing through that door.  And do you know why I don't hear any of those things, Danny?  Because right now, the Precogs can't see a thing!" and he suddenly shoots Witwer in the chest, who falls down and Lamar then stands over Witwer and shoots him in the head. 

And lastly there is the scene where Lara speaks to Lamar, the day after Anderton has been arrested and she discreetly probes him about Anne Lively, which causes him to flinch a little.

So, in the scene Lamar says to Lara "Lara, John was the best cop I ever knew, and in some ways, the best man.  But the scars he carried around, well...I know that he'd want us to honor the good things we remember about him. But I also know why he married you: you're as stubborn as he is. All right.  Tell you what I'll do. First thing Monday, I'll look over the Witwer evidence and I'll have Gideon run the Containment files, see if anyone drowned a woman named what did you say her name was?" and Lara says "Anne Lively, but I never said she drowned". And Lamar is then called out by his secretary to attend a conference, so before he goes, he quietly says to Lara "We'll talk about this later. I'll come by the cottage".

Colin Farrell who was just starting to make a name for himself back then is also very good as the ambitious young justice department member Danny Witwer.

Farrell also effects a pretty decent American accent in the film, although he makes a rather strange reference to Witwer's father having being killed on the steps of his home church in Dublin, which suggests Witwer's character is of Irish heritage although perhaps they just added that in for Farrell given that he is Irish!

And Farrell has his share of good scenes but I will only mention a few starting with the one where Witwer pays a visit to the pre-crime and he insists on being shown the precog temple as he has a warrant, so Anderton shows him the temple with the precogs lying in a pool of water.

So, in the scene Witwer refers to what they do as though it was a holy cleansing thing and Anderton's co-workers to his surprise actually agree, so Anderton dismisses them. So, Witwer tells Anderton "Sorry, old habit, I spent three years at Fuller seminary before I became a cop. My father was very proud" and Anderton asks him "What does he think of your chosen line of work?" and Witwer tells him that his father had since been shot and killed in Dublin. So, Witwer continues "I know what it is like to lose someone. Still nothing is like the losing of a child, so I can only imagine what that must feel like. To lose your son in such a public place...". However, Anderton has had enough of Witwer's sympathy act and asks "What don't you cut the cute act, Danny boy and tell me exactly what it is you're looking for?" and Witer tells him "Flaws" and Anderton says "There hasn't been a murder for 6 years. There's nothing wrong with the system, its perfect" but Witwer warns him "I agree. But if there is a flaw, its human. It always is".  

Another good scene from Witwer comes just after Leo Crowe's death comes true but not quite in the fashion as predicted as Crowe forced Anderton to shoot him with his gun and at the crime scene later on, Witwer is convinced something is wrong. 

So, in the scene Witwer says to Fletcher, one of Anderton's men, of the number of photos of Anderton's son and other items lying around the room "If you were a child killer, you took these pictures, would you leave them out on the bed for anyone to find?"and Fletcher suggests "They could have been put away and Anderton could have found them". Witwer then asks Fletcher "What kind of cop were you before this?" and Fletcher says "I was treasury agent for 8 years. Why?" and Witwer says to him "Then this would be your first actual murder scene. I worked homicide before I went federal" and he indicates the room "This is what we would've called an "orgy of evidence" and he asks Fletcher "Do you know how many orgies I had as a homicide cop?" and Fletcher asks "How many?" and Witwer tells him "None. This was all arranged". 

And lastly there is the scene where Witwer having done some investigation into Anne Lively's murder meets with Burgess to present his findings to him that Anderton was framed.

So, Witwer says to Lamar "I'm thinking someone got away with murder" and Burgess asks "How?" and Witwer says to Lamar "By fooling the system.  All someone would have to do is wait for Precrime to stop the murder from taking place, then, a few minutes later, commit the crime in exactly the same way and Lamar says "Yes, its called an echo, we teach the tech's to identify and disregard them". So, Witwer then suggests to Lamar "Of course, it would have to be someone with access to the Prevision in the first place, someone fairly high up..." before Lamar reveals himself.  

As for the other performances, Samantha Morton is very good as the precog Agatha, who spends most of her time in a docile state until she sees the vision of her mother Anne Lively and grabs Anderton to show hiim, after this she is in a state of panic when Anderton kidnaps here.  

Morton's performance is also quite poignant as she reveals in one scene how she is "tired of the future" and she recalls the memories of her mother before she was killed.  Agatha's ability to predict future events also proves to be quite amusing in the mall scene where Anderton and Agatha try to evade the police, and while they walk through the mall she suddenly stops a woman and says "Don't go home, he knows!" and he get's Anderton to drop a tramp some change as the police chase after them, as the tramp leans over to pick it up, he unwittingly trips up one of the cops!  

SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

And I will mention quickly Morton's scene where Anderton and Agatha go to his ex-wife's house, Lara (or are they just separated not sure!) and Agatha recalls memories of Sean to Anderton, who breaks down in tears and also memories of her own mother, which is revealed to be Anne Lively. 

So, in the scene, Agatha tells Anderton of an alternate future of his son, Sean, growing up, which reduces him to tears and he says "I miss him so much!" and Agatha all of a sudden says to him "So did she". And Agatha looks at a photo of Anne Lively on the wall and she says to Anderton "She just wanted her little girl back" and Anderton asks "Who wanted her back?" and Agatha tells her "The drowning woman. Anne. But it was too late. Her little girl was already gone" and Anderton asks "She died?" and Agatha says "She grew up" and Anderton asks "Is she alive" and Agatha tells him "She isn't alive but she didn't die". Anderton the finally puts together what Agatha is saying and says "How did I not see this?!" and he then asks Agatha "Agatha, who killed your mother? Who killed Anne Lively?". However Agatha then looks at Anderton and says to him calmly "I'm sorry, John but you're going to have to run again" and Anderton asks "What?" and Agatha suddenly yells "RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" as the police arrive for him outside.

Kathryn Morris also does well with her role as Lara, Anderton's ex-wife, and she ends up helping Anderton, and she has a good scene with Colin Farrell when Witwer visits her and asks about the disappearance of their son.

So, in the scene Witwer asks Lara of Anderton and his doping habit "How long has he been doping?" and Lara says "Since right after we lost our son" and Witwer says "You mean after he lost your son?" and Lara sharply tells him "It was nobody's fault". And Witwer asks "You said in the divorce papers that he tried to commit suicide" and Lara says "It was never a suicide attempt. I regret saying that!". Lara explains that Anderton "John was upset, he..." and Witwer continues "He took out his gun and sat down to watch his home movies. That is all in your statement, Lara..." and Lara angrily says to Witwer "He shot a hole in the damn ceiling! You lose your son, let's see how well YOU handle it?!". 

And last of all is the scene where Lara pieces together what happened with Anderton after his imprisonment and she talks with Burgess in his office as she helps do up his tie, he unwittingly reveals knowledge about Anne Lively's death. 

So, in the scene Lara helps Lamar with his tie and he says to her "All right.  Tell you what I'll do. First thing Monday, I'll look over     the Witwer evidence and I'll have Gideon run the Containment files,see if anyone drowned a woman named what did you say her name was?" and Lara then tells him "Anne Lively, but I never said she drowned...". 

And after Lamar tells her they will discuss this later and leaves, Lara takes a gun from Lamar's office desk and heads down to the containment prison where Anderton is being held. So, Lara holds the gun to an employee, Gideon who works there and he tells him "I would like a word with my husband please!".

And last of all, Peter Stormare is excellent in his role as the dodgy doctor, Eddie Solomon who performs Anderton's eye operation. 

And I will mention a couple of his scenes with the first being the one where they meet and Eddie tells Anderton that they have met before and that Anderton put him away for burning victim patients. 

So, in the scene Eddie says to Anderton "Tell you what since we got way back, I'll give you the old pal discount" and Anderton looks puzzled and Eddie asks him "You don't remember me, do you?" and Anderton asks him "We know each other?" and Eddie tells him "Solomon P. Eddie. I was a plastic surgeon. I specialised in burn victims!". Anderton then remember who he is and says "I put you away" and Eddie says "Yes you did" and Anderton says to him "You made those tapes" and Eddie tells him "They were performance pieces!" and Anderton says "You set your patients on fire" and Eddie defensively tells him "And I put them out! Some not as quickly as others but let's change the subject, shall we? The future is much more interesting than the past, don't you think?!".  

And lastly there is the scene where after Eddie has performed Anderton's eye operation, who is wearing bandages over his eyes to prevent him scratching and also to prevent him going blind. So, Eddie in the scene gives Anderton a device to temporarily change his appearance also and says to him "Seeing as we're old pals and all, I'm giving you a bonus, might come in handy.  Feel this. It's a temporary paralytic enzyme. Shoot this baby under your chin. Right here...The enzyme turns your facial muscles to mush.  You won't look like the same man. You tighten up again in about thirty minutes. Hurts like nothing you ever felt. I'll just drop it in your goodie bag along with your..." and he holds a plastic bag with Anderton's original eyes in them and he finishes saying "...leftovers!".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Which brings me onto director, which is of course Steven Spielberg who does a great job here as he takes the film's complex storyline and turns it into an engaging and exciting thriller.  Spielberg who has never been a stranger to action, stages the action scenes in the film very well, and he opens up the film nicely with its tense opening sequence where we see Anderton and his team work toward preventing a suburban murder, when a man catches his wife cheating on him.  

Spielberg also throws in some amusing touches in the film as well, which is typical in alot of his films such as the scene where the police set their electronic spyder devices to eye scan everyone in the apartment block where they suspect Anderton might be.  And the spyders move right through the building, IDing a couple who are in the middle of a row, who wait to be checked by the spyders and who simply go back to having their row! So, overall its definitely one of Spielberg's best films in the last 20 years or so.  

Moving onto the film's score, which was composed by John Williams which is really good as you would expect, and Williams provides a great balance of suspense and drama in his music, which sees his partnership with Spielberg continue on as it has before for many years going back to Sugarland Express in 1974. 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!) 

So as for Minority Report's flaws, any at all????  Nope its perfect!  Well... actually no not quite, it does have some. 

For starters one thing that springs mind is that the film's ending feels out of tone with the rest of what has went before, as it is almost a "they live happily ever" after moment (or as close as the story will allow).  And Spielberg with the ending is a bit guilty of using sentimentality as he often does in his films at times and it is a jarring contrast to the rest of the film's dark tone. 

Another issue is to do with the idea of how Anderton's ID clearance at Precrime was never revoked after he went on the run for the future murder he is supposed to commit as he later uses one of his surgically removed eyes to get back in there! So, the idea that they wouldn't do this is pretty silly as it is a major security breach committed by Anderton himself that is totally overlooked here. 

Further to the film's ending, Anderton in his narration says that Precrime closes down as a result of its failure and this leads to all of its convicts being released albeit with some kept under surveillance. Now my problem with this is that some of them definitely were going to commit murder, such as the guy at the start of the film (Howard Marks) who was going to kill his wife, yet he gets to go free?! I mean the fact they didn't get to commit the actual crimes doesn't mean it would stop them again in future if they were released. So, its kind of a weird one.

And lastly I also have to say that the film's photography doesn't really lend aesthetically well to the proceedings as it has a rather hideously desaturated look, and the cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (who also did Saving Private Ryan which had the same sort of bleak visual look) overdoes the colour grading technique employed here. So, yeah it has to be said palette wise we are left with a pretty ugly looking film here.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, Minority Report remains an excellent sci-fi thriller and its certainly got a lot going for it with its intriguing concept taken from the Philip K Dick novel its based on and features solid performances from the cast as well as some impressive visual effects and action scenes. There are some minor plot issues here and there but for the most part, this is a really solid and entertaining sci-fi movie, which is well worth checking out nearly 20 years on. 

Right, that's it for now and I will be back again sometime soon with another post.

So, till the next one, its bye for now!