CRUISE, SPIELBERG DELIVER A DARK TRIUMPH.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

PREDICTING THE FUTURE is easy. Trying to make it relate to the present moment, however, is much trickier business. And to make the whole thing entertaining on top of that - pure genius.

Steven Spielberg's futuristic whodunit, ``Minority Report,'' is the work of a master at the very top of his game. Thrilling, provocative and darkly funny, this timely sci-fi mystery works on so many different levels that it not only invites, it demands repeated viewings. And for a movie this good, one can only gladly surrender to its considerable allure.

Spielberg earned equal measures of praise and scorn last year for bringing Stanley Kubrick's long-gestating sci-fi project, ``A.I.,'' to the screen. But those who found it an unlikely collaboration might want to go back and watch ``A.I.'' again after seeing the stylish ``Minority Report.'' It will be an eye-opening experience in more ways than one. (Think of Malcolm McDowell's ``therapy'' scene in ``A Clockwork Orange,'' which Spielberg marvelously reprises - in a different context - here, and you'll get the idea.)

``Minority Report'' is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick (whose work also inspired Ridley Scott's ``Blade Runner'' - not a bad track record). The story was published in 1956; novelist Jon Cohen adapted it a few years ago for director Jan De Bont (``Twister''). When the project foundered, Tom Cruise picked it up and pitched it to Spielberg, who then hired screenwriter Scott Frank (``Out of Sight') to do a complete rewrite.

That's all to say that ``Minority Report'' has been around the block and yet arrives at a time when its themes and ideas have never been more topical. The movie is set in 2054 in a very recognizable, yet off-center future (the look of the film is amazing) where bureaucrats believe that they can eliminate murder through a system that arrests people before they've committed the homicide.

It's called Pre-Crime, and for the six years its top man, Chief John Anderton (Cruise) has been running it, Washington, D.C., has been completely murder-free. Three psychic ``Pre-Cogs'' see murders before they happen. Anderton and his team analyze the images, pinpoint the location and then fly in (literally) to stop the killer. Anderton's boss, Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow), believes it's a foolproof system, and he wants federal funding so he can take it nationwide.

One problem: The Pre-Cog's latest vision shows Anderton killing someone, someone he doesn't even know. He can't believe it. And yet, the visions are never wrong, right? Anderton, with his own cops and a cocky Justice Department investigator (Colin Farrell, excellent) on his trail, has 36 hours to learn the truth.

It's hard to run, though, in a future where surveillance cameras and retinal eye-scans (one keeps track of your whereabouts, the latter monitors your purchases) identify you almost everywhere you go. That loss of freedom is an idea central to the movie as Spielberg evenhandedly explores what happens when people willingly give up their privacy in order to feel safe and secure.

It's eerily relevant stuff at a time when Attorney General John Ashcroft is arresting - but not charging - suspected terrorists and advances in brain-mapping have scientists believing they can predict who is more likely to be aggressive and, yes, even criminal. Spielberg isn't making a judgment on any of this; he's merely presenting an Orwellian world that seems to be a more distinct possibility by the day.

But ``Minority Report'' isn't all grim Big Brother business. The movie's man-on-the-run structure gives Spielberg the chance to come up with some ingenious chase scenes, one through an automated automobile assembly factory (with Cruise inside the car), another on a thrilling vertical highway and a final one through a mall in a perfectly filmed, suspenseful scene that Hitchcock would have loved.

That said, Spielberg these days isn't usually content to make mere entertainments. At its heart, ``Minority Report'' is a dark noir. Cruise's Anderton is a broken man, haunted by loss, desperate to believe that his work matters. It's a character that allows Cruise to effectively use both his movie-star persona and his acting chops to fill in the emotional blanks of a man who must learn that freedom of choice may be the most valuable - and complicated - liberty of all.

It's a bravura performance in a movie that's full of wonderful work. Von Sydow, Farrell and Samantha Morton as the key Pre-Cogs are all excellent, but some of the most memorable acting comes from scene-stealers. There's Lois Smith, the founder of Pre-Crime, who spends her time in a killer greenhouse; Peter Stormare as an eye-transplant surgeon with a secret past; and Tim Blake Nelson, playing the organ-playing caretaker of the Pre-Crime convicts. Each one of this trio is spooky and brilliant.

But that's the thing about ``Minority Report.'' Everywhere you look, there's something extraordinary going on.

MINORITY REPORT - Four stars

(Rated PG-13: violence, brief language, some sexuality and drug content)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow.

Director: Steven Spielberg.

Running time: 2 hrs. 24 min.

Playing: Wide release.

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Samantha Morton and Tom Cruise star in Steven Spielberg's grim future vision, ``Minority Report.''