Minority Report Film

Plot
The plot of the film is nothing like the plot of the short story. There are only a few small similarities between the plots. At the beginning, Anderton's name is given as the future murderer of a person he does not even know. He initially believes he is being set up by someone. Then, at the end of the story, he comes to a realization and ends up killing the person he did not think he was ever going to. However, the storyline, characters, climax, and situations are completely different from each other. Similarly, this story also follows a winding plot. There are many unexpected turns in the plot that add to the suspenseful effect of the story. While Anderton is working at Precrime, a ball rolls down with his name printed on the murderer line and a second one appears with the name "Leo Crow" printed on it as the man he is going to kill. He then tries to run away from Precrime saying Witwer is plotting against him. However, the story then continues down an uncertain path that is unrelated to the short story. Although the two versions are very different in comparison between storylines, they both follow the same plot type. They have changing storylines with unexpected turning points, even though the turning points are about different things.

Point of View
While the short story is written from the third person point of view, the film is told from the first person point of view. It follows the life of Anderton and is told from his perspective instead of having a narrator. By telling the story from Anderton's perspective, it makes the audience sympathize with the main character and follow him throughout the storyline. It adds to the suspenseful tone of the movie because the audience only knows what the main character knows. They do not know who Leo Crow really is or where the story is going to lead next. As Anderton finds out clues in the film, so does the audience. This point of view allows for the audience to picture the events like they are actually happening; this creates an effect that could not be achieved by only having a narrator and dialogue for the entire story.

Characterization
The characters in the film are significantly different from those in the short story. In the story, Anderton is supposed to be the founder of Precrime and near retirement. However, in the film he is just a worker at Precrime who helps carry out the missions. In the story, Anderton is supposed to murder Leopold Kaplan. In the film, Anderton is supposed to murder Leo Crow. Anderton's wife has varying roles in the two versions. She works at Precrime and is happily married to Anderton in the story. However, in the film, she is divorced and lives away from Anderton because he reminds her of their son who was kidnapped while Anderton was watching him (the son does not even exist in the short story). The son, Sean, plays an important role in the film because he is what drives Anderton to work at Precrime to try to prevent future crimes, and Sean is the reason Anderton is supposed to murder Leo Crow.

Setting
The film takes place in a similar setting to the short story. They both occur in a futuristic and nonexistent world. They take place at a place called Precrime which contains Precogs who can see crimes before they occur. However, in the film, the time between the prediction and the actual crime seems much more rushed than in the story. The time in the story is usually about two weeks but in the film it is a matter of days. The Precogs also play a more important role in the film than in the story. They are in a tank of water instead of attached to a bunch of wires and cords like it says in the story. They can also not only report the crime by speaking it out loud like in the story, but in the film they can also create a picture of the crime as it occurs. The Precogs play a significant role in the film while they seem somewhat minor in the short story.

Theme
While the film and short story are very different, they have a similar theme. They both show how free will can affect people's futures. Near the end of the film, Anderton comes face to face with Leo Crow, the man he believes is responsible for the kidnapping of his little boy. He says that ever since the event happened, he has been wondering two things: what Sean would look like if he was still alive today and what he would do if he ever met the person responsible. Now that he has met the person he thinks is responsible, he must choose whether to get revenge or to arrest him. Anderton eventually chooses to do the right thing and not kill Crow. He does this because he has free will. He has the choice to kill or not to kill Crow. He has control over his future based off of how he lives his life in the present. This theme is the same as in the story, even though they occur under different circumstances and in different situations.