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MINORITY REPORT by Tom McCurrie
Let's say you go to a comedy club. Out comes a funnyman to do his spiel. And this guy is hilarious -- joke after joke that literally split your sides. As far as you're concerned, this is the funniest dude on the planet.
Trouble is, he doesn't know when to get off the stage. He remains up there for hours and hours, soon exhausting his repertoire of jokes. Running out of things to say, he begins reciting the Dictionary backward in High German. Two seconds later he's kicked right out of the club.
MINORITY REPORT is like that comedian, quite marvelous until it outstays its welcome. Now I seem to be in the minority on MINORITY (pun very much intended); after all, Roger Ebert's review is so glowing it borders on pagan idolatry. But I still believe the film's virtues are compromised by a script that simply refuses to end.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead!)
Written by Scott Frank and Jon Cohen, and based on the short story by Philip K. Dick, MINORITY REPORT is a futuristic tale about a group of cops who can stop murders before they happen. How do they do this? Three psychic "pre-cogs" spit out who's gonna waste who, allowing the cops to stop the dastardly deed in a nick of time. But when these very same "pre-cogs" accuse Chief John Anderton (Tom Cruise) of murder, he must go on the run to prove his innocence.
To its credit, MINORITY REPORT is chock-full of thought-provoking ideas: Can you be a murderer without actually committing one? Do we have free will or is everything pre-ordained? And what rights are we willing to give up just to be safe? All these add thematic resonance to what could have been just another chase flick.
Also adding resonance is the "Ghost" -- the past incident that haunts the protagonist. Anderton blames himself for his son's kidnapping (and subsequent murder). He relieves this guilt by obsessively stopping murders as a form of penance.
But in an emotionally devastating twist, Anderton discovers his "future" victim is Leo Crow (Mike Binder), the man who kidnapped and murdered his son. Now Anderton has a dilemma. By murdering this man (and purging himself of his "Ghost") will Anderton become what he hates?
Luckily, Anderton arrests Crow instead. Why do I say luckily? Because this provides the story with a perfect ending. You see, both Anderton's inner and outer conflicts are now resolved. With Crow's capture, he not only gets to have closure with his son, he gets to beat the murder rap as well. What more do you need? Just roll credits and applaud the filmmakers for a job well done.
Unfortunately, MINORITY REPORT doesn't get while the gettin's good. In fact, the story keeps going and going and going, much to the detriment of the film.
It's not the extra length that's the problem. It's the extra twist. We soon discover that Anderton's boss set him up to waste Crow (who actually wasn't his son's killer) to cover up a murder of his own. Frankly, this is one twist too many.
First of all, having the good-guy mentor turn out to be the heavy as about as predictable as it gets, at least to anyone who's watched TV since the 70s. In fact, Tom Cruise used the exact same gambit in the first MISSION IMPOSSIBLE when true-blue Mister Phelps went psycho on him.
Making matters worse, once we find out what the boss is up to, it takes an inordinate amount of time for Anderton to take him down. So not only is the twist weaker, it's dragged out longer than the Florida recount.
Finally, though clever on the surface, this twist lacks an emotional punch. Why? Because the relationship between Anderton and his boss is barely sketched, so when the former's betrayed, we have no investment in seeing the boss caught -- certainly not in comparison to the cretin who snatched Anderton's son.
Remember, a weak ending diminishes all that comes before. So when you're at your best, follow the golden rule -- get off the stage.
Responses, comments and general two-cents worth can be E-mailed to gillis662000@yahoo.com.
A graduate of USC's School of Cinema-Television, Tom McCurrie has worked as a development executive and a story analyst. He is currently a screenwriter living in Los Angeles.
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