Release Date: 3/4/11
Your alarm goes off and you wake up. You take a shower. You shave. You get dressed. And maybe grab a cup of coffee on your way to work. En route, you answer a few phone calls or read a couple of emails. Maybe you make small talk with the girl or guy riding next to you on the subway or bus to pass the time. But what if – by chance – one of these seemingly insignificant events were to go the other way. Your internet isn’t working, you drop your cell phone in your coffee cup or you’re too shy to talk to the girl or guy next to you? Then perhaps the story of your life would have a drastically different outcome. But is it really chance? Or have the events that shape our lives been prearranged? Are we merely puppets in an ambitiously divine and predetermined plan? Perhaps your life is adjusted from time to time – without you knowing of course. Maybe your life is monitored by an Adjustment Bureau, a mysteriously omniscient agency ensuring your life sticks to the plan. Maybe, just maybe.
David Norris (Matt Damon) is a charismatic Brooklyn-raised Congressman - the youngest ever elected. David is on the verge of winning the New York Senate seat in a landslide when on the eve of the election, the New York Post prints pictures exposing one of his “youthful indiscretions” from his college hay-days. David is blown out by the opposing candidate. Now he must make the speech every politician loathes: the one of concession. There he is, alone in the men’s bathroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel (or so he thinks) when he ironically meets Elise (Emily Blunt) who just so happens to be hiding from hotel security for crashing a wedding. Instantly connecting, David and Elise strike-up a quick friendship that would make any hopeless romantic insanely jealous. Which of course, is topped-off with a kiss. “The kiss” and Elise’s free-spirited take on life inspire David to deliver an off-the-cuff, charismatic concession speech which instantly makes him the overwhelming front-runner in the following year’s senate race. But was it chance? Was it fate? Or were David and Elise intentionally brought together?
The next morning, and in the wake of his spontaneously triumphant concession speech, David spots Elise on the bus. All the while being valiantly pursued by a fedora wearing man named Harry Mitchell (Anthony Mackie). Yet again, David and Elise strike up another romantically captivating conversation ending in Elise giving David her number on a business card. When David reaches the offices of his new employer, he inadvertently catches a glimpse of the men behind the curtain. Men of the Adjustment Bureau and a curtain David wasn’t even supposed to know existed. But saw nevertheless. After a brief run-for-it, David is inevitably detained by the men of the Adjustment Bureau, led by the lead case officer Richardson (John Slattery). Knowing full well of his ferocious determination, Richardson levels with David. And while he vows not to divulge the truth about their existence or to look for Elise, David stoically trudges forward. Riding the same bus for three years in hopes that chance will bring him and Elise back together. It just so happens that they do. However, when he fails to control the ripple effects of David’s determination, Richardson is relieved of his duties and Thompson (Terrence Stamp) takes over. But no one, not even the toughest agent of the Adjustment Bureau can stop someone from falling in love. You can’t suppress free will.
“I don’t care what you put in my way, I’m not giving up.”
For the most part, the film was very entertaining. But it tries too hard to be an exhilarating sci-fi balancing act. It does, however, unfold several sequences which briefly hold – inevitably failing to maintain – the energy and dynamism of a Hitchcockian thriller. The film’s diamond in the rough was the on-screen pull between Damon and Blunt, which is nothing short of electric. Their chemistry is natural, believable and endlessly entertaining. And while we’ve seen this “one man defying the system” type of character from Damon plenty of times before, it never seems to get old. At least not for me. John Slattery isn’t nearly as good as he is in Mad Men and Anthony Mackie doesn’t come close to the performance he gave in The Hurt Locker. Not that I expected anything especially great from either. Nevertheless, it’s a disappointment when you get so little out of an actor or character knowing how great they can be.
Inspired by the 1954 short story by Philip K. Dick, The Adjustment Bureau, written and directed by George Nolfi, is a movie very similar to The Matrix and Inception. Though not nearly in the same league, it still must constantly remind the audience of it’s world’s continuously altering rules. None of the film’s glaring flaws matters much if you buy into the it’s romantic core - which I almost did. Also like Inception, it may have you contemplating about the overall meaning long after the fact. The one-two punch of Damon and Blunt keeps the film from imploding – folding on-top of itself much like the city of Paris in the aforementioned and infinitely superior Inception. Both Damon and Blunt give strong, unforced performances. The Adjustment Bureau is an ambitious directorial debut for George Nolfi. However, it’s just not strong enough for what it really is - a romantic war against free will and the argumentative notion that all things are predetermined. It’s neither the characters nor the acting that needs adjusting. It’s the story.
IMDb: 7.3/10
Rottentomatoes: 70%
MovieWiseGuys: 6.5/10