Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Minority Report
- Commentary: Roger Ebert was, in his words, so "blindsided" by the "brilliance" of this movie that, aside from his usual write-up (connected to the title of this post), he conducted an interview with Steven Spielberg, the film's director, and Tom Cruise, the film's lead actor, to delve into a variety of topics surrounding the making of the movie and its contribution to its genre. Speaking of which, you might notice that I included it in both neo-noir and melodrama (my film-noir category). I did this because I've seen it listed as both, so, you know, to be fair ...
I saw this movie twice when my mother was alive. She was a fan of science fiction (all types), found this movie thrilling and clamored to see it twice, in the theatre, which we did.
Twenty years later, I remember it as complicated and astonishingly high tech. I was reminded of the movie when I was reading an article about robots in the movies (which I did not, alas, bookmark, but there are so many articles out there about this movie that similar sentiments probably won't be hard to find, if you're looking for them). The article mentioned that this movie is an example of robots that do not engage with humans, do not become friendly with humans, do not react to individual humans, do not, in fact, veer from the purpose for which they were created, which is to identify and, thus, help corral generic humans in various ways, without concern about who the humans are individually, politically and spiritually. This, the article suggested, puts it in a peculiar and somewhat smaller category than those of most movies that feature robots. I was surprised at this article's mention of robots in this movie because my memories of it didn't contain any robots. I have a niggling interest in movies that feature robots, so I decided to obtain the movie. When I receive and rewatch the movie, I'm sure I'll have more to say about this aspect of it, and other features, as well.
Update 12/30/22: Well, I did it, all day today. I indulged myself in the third watching, in my life, of this movie. I also watched all the many special features included on a second disc (I highly recommend them all, but, especially, the interview with Steven Spielberg). Going in, I wondered how much of it would be familiar to me. Coming out, I was breathless. I remembered a lot of it, but what I didn't remember were the tech savvy action sequences and the out-of-nowhere subplots, which continue to thrill me, perhaps because my mother's gasps of surprise, so many years ago, had also been stored in my memory and brought back cozy memories of absorbing her reactions along with my own.
Good movie? Yes, I'm glad I added it to my collection. I hadn't remembered, as well, how much heart the movie has and how much it relies on the slow unfolding of the tragedy at the center of the protagonist's (played by Tom Cruise) life. Nor did I remember the surprising resolution of Anderton's despair, despite the fact that it is prefigured in the characterization of his former wife.
BTW, quite a bit of the characters' dialog in the movie is recorded here by, no doubt, discerning fans.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Tom Cruise Chief John Anderton Max von Sydow Lamar Burgess Colin Farrell Danny Witwer Samantha Morton Agatha Lively Michael Dickman Arthur Arkadian Matthew Dickman Dashiell Arkadian Lois Smith Dr. Iris Hineman Kathryn Morris Lara Anderton Tyler Patrick Jones Sean Anderton Mike Binder Leo Crowe Steve Harris Jad Watson Jessica Harper Anne Lively Tim Blake Nelson Gideon Daniel London Norbert Wallace Peter Stormare Dr. Solomon P. Eddie Neal McDonough Gordon Fletcher
Besides the stacked and noteworthy cast listed above, the movie is teeming with significant actors playing bit parts and walk-ons. There must have been a great deal of industry buzz about this movie as it was being made since it appears that everyone and their dogs were clamoring to be included.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2002
Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Labels: lois-smith, melodramaC, neo-noirC, science-fiction2, steven-spielberg, thriller4, tom-cruise, violence5
