Director: Steven Spielberg
Year Released: 2002
Rating: 3.5
Why isn't George Lucas doing things like this? He has the same resources Spielberg has, but Steven is going in a completely different direction - this, along with A.I., show a filmmaker trying to incorporate experimental ideas and visuals in a rather traditional (in this case 'detective') story. And it works, too - the first ¾ of the movie are nothing short of sheer cinematic joy, putting people at play in a world full of tech-toys and translucent computer screens, following around beaten-and-bruised Tom Cruise as he tries to clear his name of 'false' charges brought against him for murder (like in Orwell's 1984, the 'system' can predict whether or not you will commit a crime before the time comes and therefore prevent it). It hums along until the last ¼ when A.I.'s flaws resurface - namely, multiple ending points, hammy conversations about Cruise's son and wife (Spielberg's 'family values') and over length. The whole philosophical and ethical points of predicting (and altering) fate are never delved into - Spielberg isn't exactly a cerebral filmmaker (how many of those do we have left?) - but what he does give you is precious in its own right: one of the year's best films.
