 
|
|
|
|
MOVIE
LISTINGS
| NEW
VIDEO RELEASES
MOVIE
REVIEW ARCHIVE
| THEATER
INFO
Everybody
Runs
High-tech
paranoia.
BY LOIS WADSWORTH
MINORITY REPORT: Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Written by Scott Frank and Jon Cohen, based upon a short story by
Philip K. Dick. Produced by Gerald R. Molen, Bonnie Curtis, Walter
F. Parkes, Jan De Bont. Executive producers, Gary Goldman and Ronald
Shusett. Cinematography, Janusz Kaminski. Production design, Alex
McDowell. Editor, Michael Kahn. Costumes, Deborah L. Scott. Animation,
visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic. Visual effects supervisor,
Scott Farrar. Music, John Williams. Starring Tom Cruise, with Colin
Farrell, Samantha Morton and Max Von Sydow. Also, Lois Smith, Peter
Stormare, Tim Blake Nelson, Jason Antoon and Kathryn Morris. DreamWorks
Pictures and 20th Century Fox, 2002. PG-13. 140 minutes.
 |
|
AGATHA
(SAMANTHA MORTON) AND JOHN ANDERTON (TOM CRUISE) ARE BONDED
IN PURSUIT OF TWO CRIMES: ONE THAT HAS HAPPENED, AND ONE THAT
HAS NOT.
|
At last, an exciting, innovative movie that
can stand with the best of Steven Spielberg's work, such as Close
Encounters of a Third Kind, E.T., Raiders of the Lost
Ark, Empire of the Sun and yes, A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
The futuristic Minority Report is based on a short science
fiction tale written by Philip K. Dick, a cult writer whose amphetamine-fueled,
pulp prose nailed the 1950s and saw the future as an extension of
advertising, government intrusion and technology that eliminates privacy.
Dick's decidedly dour world view counteracts Spielberg's tendency
toward sentimentality and optimism, and the creative tension between
them results in an unexpectedly humanistic, original film.
Set in 2054 in Washington, D.C., the film concerns
policeman John Anderton (Tom Cruise), who runs the Pre-Crime unit
in a city that has been murder-free for six years. Now the program
is set to go national. A wildly successful experiment, at its core
are two men and a woman with precognitive gifts, who float in a supervised,
nutrient-rich tank and dream about crimes before they happen. Specially
designed machines interpret the Pre-Cogs' brain waves, correctly identify
victim and perpetrator, and issue small wooden balls engraved with
their names that roll down a series of jointed, see-through tubes.
Depending on whether or not the crime is premeditated
or a crime of passion dreamed only minutes before it is to be enacted,
Anderton has to work quickly. He's a whiz, pulling pieces of information
onto the huge screen in front of him, selecting the relevant, always
working against time to locate the site where the murder is to take
place and get there before the killer acts. Then he and his team rocket
to the location and forcibly intervene.
But on the first Pre-Crime of this day, Anderton arrests
a man who claims he was not going to kill his wife and her lover,
and for some reason, the man's words haunt the detective. Maybe it's
because the unpleasant FBI agent, Ed Witwer (Colin Farrell), who's
arrived at Pre-Crime to sniff out any problems, appears to have taken
an instant dislike to Anderton. So when a small red ball rolls down
the tube with Anderton's name as a future murderer, he runs for his
life.
On the run Anderton connects with a series of interesting
characters. Agatha (Samantha Morton) is the lead Pre-Cog, whose dreams
always come true if not prevented. Agatha's barely able to speak,
but Morton shows her bright inner fire. Dr. Iris Hineman (Lois Smith)
is the scientist who developed the idea of using adult "crack-babies,"
whose terrible dreams make them unfit to live in society, to prevent
crime. She tells Anderton about the system's weakness, its "minority
reports." Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow) is Anderton's boss, co-creator
of the system, who's like a father to Anderton and Anderton's ex-wife,
Lara Clarke (Kathryn Morris).
Brief but memorable performances include Tim Blake
Nelson as a wacky jailer named Gideon; Peter Stormare as Dr. Eddie,
a creepy black-market eye surgeon; and Jason Antoon as Rufus Riley,
an over-the-top manager of a Cyber Parlor that's straight out of another
Dick story turned movie, Total Recall.
This fabulous, entertaining sci-fi thriller is now
playing at Cinemark and Cinema World. Highest recommendations.
Back to Top
Wartime
Thriller
Cracking
the German code.
BY LOIS WADSWORTH
ENIGMA:
Directed by Michael Apted. Written by Tom Stoppard, based on the novel
by Robert Harris. Produced by Lorne Michaels and Mick Jagger. Executive
producers, Victoria Pearman, Guy East, Nigel Sinclair, Hanno Huth
and Michael White. Cinematography, Seamus McGarvey. Production design,
John Beard. Editor, Rick Shaine. Costumes, Shirley Russell. Music,
John Barry. Starring Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam,
Saffron Burrows and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Manhattan Pictures International,
2002. R. 117 minutes.
This movie's got sex, suspense, secrets and
spies, as well as a cast of fine actors: Dougray Scott (upcoming Ripley's
Game), Kate Winslet (Holy Smoke, Iris), Jeremy Northam
(An Ideal Husband, Gosford Park) and Saffron Burrows
(Time Code, upcoming Gangster No. 1). Based on the secret
civilian and military project to decode WWII Nazi military codes,
the film centers on the people working on the project — mathematicians,
linguists, electrical engineers, clerks, military officers and intelligence
specialists.
 |
|
TOM
JERICHO (DOUGRAY SCOTT) AND HESTER WALLACE (KATE WINSLET) GROW
CLOSE AS THEY LOOK FOR A MISSING FRIEND.
|
The British had taken an Enigma machine, a precursor
to modern computers, from the Germans. They knew what Enigma did but
not how to use it .Then, the Germans changed their transmission codes
to and from their U-boats, not knowing the Allies had captured the
decoder. The project suddenly came under a top secret imperative to
crack the new code because German submarines plying the Atlantic were
decimating the British fleet's lifeline to the U.S. and its own colonies,
and the Allies were helpless to protect their cargo ships.
Mathematician Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott) arrives
at the English estate known as Bletchley Park (aka Station X), a complex
of buildings housing 12,000 people working around the clock to break
the enigma and other codes. Tom is suffused with memories of the woman
he loved and lost, a file clerk named Claire Romily (Saffron Burrows).
And he's embarrassed about the nervous breakdown from which he has
just recovered.
But Tom immediately has to deal with Wigram (Jeremy
Northam), a spooky intelligence agent. Wigram keeps his eye on Tom
and spreads stories about Claire, who's gone missing. Wigram sniffs
around for security risks, certain the nerdy cryptographers are all
spies. Only Claire's roommate, Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet), is inclined
to help Tom find where Claire's gone and discover her connection to
the project.
So the story involves breaking the German code to
save the war for the Allies, solving the mystery surrounding Claire,
uncovering Wigram's motives, and observing the growing attraction
between Tom and Hester. Then there's the Katyn Massacre, an actual
historical event. In 1943 Nazi Germany discovered bodies in a mass
grave, the work of the Red Army in 1939. But the Russians didn't confirm
it for nearly 50 years.
The film does not know which of these strands to pursue,
and there's no simple answer to the question: What is the film about?
Michael Apted is a fine director who can do it all, from action (The
World is Not Enough) to documentary (from 7 Up in 1963
through 1998's 42 Up). Playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard
(Shakespeare in Love) is a wordsmith to emulate.
Perhaps an inept editor bungled putting the film together,
or maybe the film's five executive producers and producers Lorne Michaels
and Mick Jagger each wanted to make a different movie. I'm only sort-of
kidding. Something happened, but fortunately there are still many
pleasures to be found in Enigma, which opens Friday at the
Bijou.
Back to Top
Table of Contents
| News | Views | Arts &
Entertainment
Classifieds | Personals
|
EW
Archive
|