Minority Report (2002)

Don't get me wrong. Steven Spielberg's Minority Report -- starring a focused, feeling Tom Cruise as a D.C. cop of the future who stops crime before it happens -- is a major accomplishment. It's revved up on visionary action, laced with dark humor and powered by a topical idea: how much freedom are we willing to sacrifice to feel secure at home? That sure beats Scooby-Doo for smarts.

There's the rub. Despite rave reviews -- Ebert's thumb hit masterpiece level -- this R-rated film's opening…

The beautifully filmed Minority Report, a futuristic cautionary tale adapted from a story by sci-fi genius Philip K. Dick, is long on gadgets, heavy on star power, and unfortunately long-winded.

Story

It's 2054 and the Washington, D.C., police department's Pre-Crime unit is six years old and going strong. The experimental program uses a trio of psychic precognitives to predict murders before they happen by connecting an elaborate machine to the precogs' brain waves that presents their visions to…

You know what's a really fucking cool DVD that we just watched on our tour bus? Minority Report, the Tom Cruise/Steven Spielberg movie. It's a great thriller, but it's also a really cool look at what life in the future might be like. And the whole idea of the Pre-Cogs, where they can predict and then stop crimes before they even happen... that's just awesome. But man, if they had that now, I'm telling you, I'd be absolutely fucked. They would have locked me up a long time ago, so I guess it's…