MINORITY REPORT (2002)

MORGAN'S RATING

Based on a Philip K. Dick story, Minority Report is about a cop named John Anderton in the future working in a division of the police department that arrests killers before they commit the crimes courtesy of some future viewing technology. Anderton has the tables turned on him when he is accused of a future crime and must find out what brought it about and stop it before it can happen.

Tom Cruise (Detective John Anderton), Colin Farrell (Officer Danny Witwer), Samantha Morton (Agatha), Max von Sydow (Lamar Burgess), Kathryn Morris (Lara Anderton), Neal McDonough (Officer Fletcher), Spencer Treat Clark (Sean Anderton), Steve Harris, Peter Stormare (Eye surgeon), Patrick Kilpatrick (Knott), Ramona Badescu, Kathi Copeland (Bystander), Kirk B.R. Woller (Officer Ross), Paul Wasilewski (Nathan), Shannon O'Hurley, Allie Raye (Hamburger Mom), Lois Smith, Katy Boyer, Victoria Kelleher (Tech D), David Stifel, Mike Binder (Leo Crowe), Bourke Floyd (Pre-Crime Officer), Joel Gretsch, Steven Hack (PSA), Tyler Patrick Jones (Sean Anderton at Age 7), Daniel London (Wally), William Mapother (Hotel Clerk), Blake Bashoff (Pre-crime PSA), Jason Antoon (Rufus Riley), Jessica Capshaw, Robert Randolph Caton (Dignitary), Tom Choi (Agent Paymen), Frank Grillo, Arye Gross (Howard Marks), Tonya Ivey (Gap Girl), Dominic Scott Kay (Sean Anderton, Age 4), Caroline Langerfelt, Victor Raider-Wexler (Surgeon General).

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE ACCUSED OF A MURDER, YOU HAD NOT COMMITTED...YET?

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg. WRITERS: Scott Frank and Jon Cohen and based on the short story by Philip K. Dick. PRODUCERS: Jan de Bont, Bonnie Curtis, Gerald R. Molen and Walter F. Parkes. ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Michael Doven and Sergio Mimica-Gezzan. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Gary Goldman and Ronald Shusett. ORIGINAL MUSIC: John Williams. DISTRIBUTOR: DreamWorks Pictures.

QUOTES

John Anderton: You're under arrest for future murder.

Fletcher: Don't run, John. Anderton: You don't have to chase me. Fletcher: You don't have to run! Anderton: Everybody runs, Fletch.

FACTS

Burgess: Who's the victim? Anderton: I've never heard of him! But I'm supposed to kill him in less than thirty-six hours.

RELEASE DATE: June 21st, 2002 (USA) BOX OFFICE OPENING: $35.6 million (USA) BOX OFFICE RESULT: $132.0 million (USA) BUDGET: $102 million (USA) PRODUCTION DATES: March 2001 -- July 2001 - Tom Cruise began filming only days after completing work on Vanilla Sky (2001). - Matt Damon was originally up for the Colin Farrell role. - Three years ago, Spielberg assembled a team of sixteen future experts in Santa Monica to brainstorm out the year 2054 for him. The team included Neil Gershenfeld of the Media Lab at MIT; Shaun Jones, director of biomedical research at DARPA; William Mitchell, dean of the school of arhitecture at MIT; Peter Calthorpe, the New Urbanism evangelist; and Jaron Lanier, one of the inventors of virtual reality technology. - Tom Cruise's character drives a 2054 model Lexus. Steven Spielberg turned to Lexus for some ideas in designing a car for the future, but the bulk of the designs were done by Harald Belker, who also designed vehicles in Batman and Robin (1997) and Armageddon (1998). - The part played by Spencer Treat Clark was deleted. Nevertheless, in some versions of the film, his name is in the main titles at the end but not in the cast. - Tom Cruise did all of his own stunts. - The small storage media used throughout the film are clear plastic versions of Iomega's Pocketzip disks. - The "Pre-Cogs" were all named after famous mystery writers. Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon), Conan Doyle, Arthur (Sherlock Holmes), and Agatha Christine (Murder on the Orient Express). - This is the first film since Hook (1991) that Spielberg has shot in 2,35:1 CAMEOS: Cameron Crowe, Tom Cruise's director from Jerry Maguire and Vanilla Sky, appears as a commuter on the train who looks at Aderton over the top of his newspaper and recognizes him. And sitting behind him is a blonde woman who just happens to be Cameron Diaz. - Many references to the films of Stanley Kubrick. - Directors Trademark: Anderton is a father who has lost his son. - The scene on the D.C. metro in which Anderton is recognized from a newspaper is a homage to The Fugitive (1993) in which Dr. Kimble is recognized in the same way. - The film projected on the wall of Dr. Solomon's apartment that shows a man being shot in a Japanese hot-tub is Samuel Fuller's House of Bamboo (1955).

Anderton: There hasn't been a murder in six years. The system, it is perfect.

Anderton: The fact that you prevented it from happening doesn't change the fact that it was going to happen.

Anderton: I have to know. I have to find out what happened to my life.

Anderton: What are you looking for? Witwer: Flaws. Do you ever get any false positives?

Tank Guard: I like you chief, you were always nice to me. So I'll give you two minutes before I hit the alarm.

Gideon: Careful, Chief. Dig up the past, all you get is dirty.

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"A film that can get you high on the sheer magic and exhilaration of making movies." -- Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

"Gives us a lot to chew on, but not all of it has been properly digested." -- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"There's something auspicious, and daring, too, about the artistic instinct that pushes a majority-oriented director like Spielberg to follow A.I. with this challenging report so liable to unnerve the majority." -- Lisa Schwarzbaum, EW

"A masterful work infused with beautiful and haunting visuals outstanding performances from Tom Cruise and a gifted supporting cast -- and a story that challenges the mind and engages the spirit." -- Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper