Went to see two hyped-up summer movies over the weekend: “The Bourne Identity” and “Minority Report.” Both were well-made, with decent acting and direction, and both were exciting and involving at times. But they both took their interesting premises and did almost nothing with them. They are unfortunately typical of big Hollywood studio movies these days – mix a couple of big stars with a high concept premise, add some action, and bam, big box office.
Of the two, “Minority Report” is the more interesting and the bigger failure. It has consistently some of the most beautiful cinematography I’ve seen in years. It deals with the fascinating idea that crime is forseen by psychics, and then prevented before it happens – while still punishing the “guilty” (paging John Ashcroft!). It stars Tom Cruise and was directed by Steven Spielberg. But with all this going for it (OK the Cruise part is a stretch as a positive, but still), it totally drops the ball on capitalizing on the mind-bending premise. Despite all the near-future trappings, what we end up with is a pretty pat and predictable whodunit. For all its faults, Cruise’s “Vanilla Sky” from last year did a better job in immersing you in the high concept.
Is there such a thing as a good summer movie? I mean a really good one? I hope so. But these two aren’t it.
Adam
Sorry, dear. But ever since that whole “Once Around”/””Kind Hearts and Coronets” discussion I’m not sure if i can ever trust you on movies again.
However, I’m right there with you on Tom. Some days I just want to smack that smarmy, pat little grin off his face that is learing up to me off of every damn magazine cover this summer. Hard. Smack it really, really hard.
Though I’m not sure if this was the sentiment you were conveying with your line about TC, it’s the sentiment I wanted to convey. It just needed to be said, and I’m glad I was the one to say it.
Nice site. Actually, an excellent site. My congratulations.
Lisa