October 20, 2002

Minority Report

Based on a short story by celebrated writer Philip K. Dick, whose work has inspired such movies as Blade Runner and Total Recall, Minority Report’s enthralling visual effects will hold the audience in their grip right from the opening action-packed sequence.

The story begins in the year 2054 and we meet John Anderton played by Tom Cruise, the head of the Pre-crime police division who, with the aid of psychics known as Pre-Cogs, arrests would-be murderers before they commit their crimes. Director Steven Spielberg paints an effectively believable picture of the future, enticing in its technological comforts and high standards of public safety and yet frightening in its invasive intrusion into each individual’s freedom and privacy. Which do you prefer-freedom or security? To gain one, you must give up the other, as Anderton, who believed so deeply in the infallibility of the Pre-crime system, finds out when he himself gets accused of planning to murder a man he’s never heard of. To prove his innocence, he runs, and is chased by his own team as he strives to prove the Pre-Cogs’ verdict wrong.

Performances are impeccable and the special effects thankfully serve the ingenuity of the script, rather then the other way around as happens in so many other movies nowadays. A beautifully executed action thriller/sci fi feature which will keep the audiences thoroughly engrossed. — Ayesha Suboor

Sweet home Alabama

Sweet home Alabama is a light-hearted, romantic, comedy movie. A famous New York fashion designer named Melanie (Witherspoon) suddenly finds herself engaged to the city’s most eligible bachelor, the mayor’s son Andrew Hemmings. Thrilled at her great fortune, she agrees to marry the flamboyant Andrew, but fails to reveal to him that she already has a husband in her hometown Alabama. A plane ride later, Melanie is on her way home to deal with her divorce, which hubby Jake (Josh Lucas) has been unwilling to give her for the past eight years. But once there, Melanie realizes that her past is not so bad, the folks not that trashy and Jake isn’t all that boring after all. Bound and determined to end her controversial relationship with Andrew once and for all, Melanie sneaks back home to Alabama to confront her past, only to discover that you can take the girl out of the South, but you can never take the South out of the girl.

This romantic comedy is an average movie, which should only be watched when you don’t have anything to do. Recommended for all ages. — Nazia Mirza

Waydowntown

Waydowntown is a movie about workaholics and what can happen to people who know no other way of life. But the theme is treated in a comic manner that spares one from having to put up with all those boring and sermonizing scenes.

The flick basically revolves around four coworkers who are friendly, yet rivals at the workplace. They all work and live in a skyscraper that has offices, apartments and shopping malls. Practically, almost everything they need is under one roof! This leads them to make a strange bet — who can stay the longest without setting foot outside the building complex. This gets them more involved in each other’s lives and soon we see pressures building up in their lives. As none wants to lose the bet, each tries to make the others get fed up and step out and get the whole business over and done with.

Tom (Fab Filippo) is pretentious and cheers himself by visiting the shopping mall to flirt with the shoppers. Most of the action either takes place in the office or at the shopping mall. Sandra (Marya Delver), who is given a tough time by her boss, is ambitious and is into the bet to prove herself a competent professional.

All workaholics should watch Waydowntown, as the movie shows in a humorous way, how ‘all work and no play’ can make one almost go bonkers. —Ambreen Sher

Bowling for Columbine

A thought-provoking and terrifying look at America’s obsession with guns and violence. Michael Moore, the author of Stupid White Men, in Bowling for Columbine traces the history of America’s love affair with weapons; he reflects on the real reasons for crime and violence in USA; and he comments on the violent nature of America’s post-war foreign policy. Michael Moore is serious, sarcastic and funny. There are many hilarious scenes. The film starts with Moore opening a bank account and getting a free gun in return. It moves on to Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado where 12 students and a teacher were killed in 1999. We find out that the bullets were bought for 17 cents each from Wal-Mart. The film ends with a confrontation with National Rifle Association honcho Charlton Heston. The film was well received by critics at Cannes and awarded the Special Prize. It is a powerful, moving and topical documentary on the land of the free with a culture of fear that manifests itself in violence at home and in its foreign policy. — Rubab Naqvi