Minority Report
(Steven
Spielberg), 2002
Spielberg's recent return to form continues with a
film that is straightforward in intention yet tricky in its details. An
adaptation of a short story by Phillip K. Dick, it's a murder mystery
complicated
by science fictional concepts: the murder is yet to happen, having been
foreseen by prescient teenagers kept captive as a crime-prevention
measure
by the police. The action scenes, although less numerous than expected,
are pulled off with Spielberg’s usual panache, and the performances are
excellent across the board (Spielberg is always underrated as a
director
of actors). Yet the film would be unsatisfying if it were just an
action
film: Spielberg has undermined his reputation by trying to alternate
between
“prestige” pictures and braindead action movies. His best films - Jaws,
Duel, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark - are
satisfying
because he took them seriously despite them being fundamentally lowbrow
material.
Here he rediscovers this skill and gives us a thriller that is also
about
something.
Jumping on the Philip K. Dick bandwagon was a good move: even when the
adaptations of Dick's work are flawed, and completely transform the
source material, enough of his sensibility seems to make it through to
ensure the result is well above the Hollywood norm (think Blade
Runner and Total Recall). Unlike so may of Spielberg’s
weaker films, there is here some sense of moral ambiguity: the
"precrime" program run by the police of 2054 is established early on as
an enormous success, so the gradual exposure
of the system’s flaws becomes more satisfying. While the ending may be
a
little pat, the message of the film - that the overzealous protection
of
the legitimate public interest can quickly degenerate into abuse of
civil
rights - is a welcome one in this post September 11 age.
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© 2005 by Stephen Rowley