Tuesday, July 09, 2002

Caught Minority Report on Sunday. Let me tell you -- if there's one movie you see this whole year, make it this one.
I've never been a big Tom Cruise fan, but I'm a long-time admirer of Steven Spielberg, so that was my main motivation for going to see this film. It's been getting rave reviews here in Singapore, so I was prepared to be disappointed ( reviewers sometimes exaggerate! ). Since the whole world already knows the premise of the movie, I'll just skip ahead and talk about why I enjoyed it:
1) The excellent script -- taut and full of surprises, yet never bordering on the ridiculous.
2) The visuals -- original and just plain amazing. Check out the much talked about vertical highways and various chase sequences.
3) Tom Cruise -- face it, Spielberg made the right choice when he cast him in the role of John Anderton. Cruise turns in a nicely understated yet poignant performance.
Tortured but not melodramatic, and yes, he reigns among the top 5 action actors in Hollywood.
4) Colin Farrell -- a brunette Brad Pitt lookalike, I swear. Plays a pivotal role with skill and relish, but displays the much sought after "X factor" as well. Watch his star rise.
5) Spielberg -- the maestro extraordinnaire has truly mastered his craft. After the dark and melancholy A.I., he adds his familiar touch of slam-bang action to Minority
Report, resulting in a hard-hitting thriller that will be tough to match, much less top, in many years to come. I'm betting he'll get a fistful of nominations come Oscar time.
Money worth spending. Go see it!

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