Reel Review: The Adjustment Bureau

**THIS IS A REPOST OF AN OLD REVIEW ACCIDENTALLY DELETED**

The Adjustment Bureau is a movie I was honestly excited about from the first trailer. It kinda looked like it could be a good thriller with a bit of Dark City mixed in for good measure. Even with my hate of Green Zone, I was still excited by Matt Damon’s involvement in it as well. Now, it may not have been exactly what I expected, but in no way does that mean its a bad film. It actually is a solid piece of cinema that relies more on character interaction than its sci-fi plot and is all the better for it.

As such, I feel its a good idea to give a brief overview of the plot, though you could get it from any of the trailers really. David Norris (Matt Damon) is a (fairly) young guy, already a member of the House of Representatives, running to become a Senator from New York, and is a honest and actually caring politician. On the night that he loses his first bid for the Senate, he meets Elise (Emily Blunt) while he works on his concession speech, and the two truly hit it off with Elise renewing his hope in being elected, before they get interrupted mid-kiss and she disappears as he gives his speech. It is here where we are first truly introduced to the “Adjusters” as they plot to spill coffee on David to delay him, but the moment is missed, and he gets on a bus where he happens to run into her again and then arrives early and “sees behind the curtain” and is taken in. The Adjusters decide to level with him that they keep things following a plan and that plan says that he and Elise can’t be together. Time progresses by a few years and David, having never given up hope of finding Elise, runs into her again, causing the Adjusters to jump back into try and intervene, and thus the true conflict comes in as he must work to stay with her.

Now, an important thing that is left out of that little plot you can get from the trailers, is how the Adjustment Bureau its self is more or less a religious allegory. In fact, at one point David asks one of the Adjusters if he’s an Angel and he is told “We’ve been called that” and that their boss, “The Chairman”, has “Gone by many names”. Essentially it becomes less true sci-fi and more an explanation for religion and mysticism over the course of human history, without identifying with any religion in particular. Now I personally am not a very religious man, and heavy handed religious stuff does tend to annoy me, but they actually do a great job of merely touching on the religious implications of this group, and then lets you decide. In fact, I actually liked their description of the Adjustment Bureau and the use of a corporate structure within it a lot, and it is part of the witty humor used throughout. 

Now, the movie doesn’t fully reach that heavy and dark thriller status that the trailers would imply, but the similarity I saw to Dark City is very much there, at least with “The Strangers” from that film. The Strangers were the bad guys, and they controlled everything in the Dark City, as well as the people and would change things every night, and were essentially malicious. The Adjusters are fairly similar, but they can only adjust the thought process of people as well as some minor telekinetic ability to do stuff like spill coffee cups on people. Another big difference is The Strangers can be seen as truly a little malicious, but The Adjusters really are working for an intended greater good. In the end, Dark City is the only movie I can really say is very similar to The Adjustment Bureau.

The film itself is based off a short story by famed science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, however it is adapted to the screen by writer and director George Nolfi. Nolfi is an experienced screenwriter with a few big name films under his belt, such as Timeline, Ocean’s Twelve, and The Bourne Ultimatum. His skill as a writer has clearly grown over time as Timeline was enjoyable but The Bourne Ultimatum is terrific, and the scripting on this film is terrific as well. One of the high points is the dialogue which feels natural and also has a consistently good sense of humor that keeps you engrossed in the very real feeling characters. This film is also Nolfi’s first time directing, but surprisingly it doesn’t really show as he gets great performances out of these big name actors all while not losing the plot. There are a few running and action scenes that are shot well and are a solid addition to the film, that a rookie director could mess up, but Nolfi did not and that is certainly to the film’s benefit. 

The actors in general do a great job, and they really make the conflict come to life. The heart of this movie is the romance between David and Elise, and Damon and Blunt make their characters relatable and their love feel real. This is honestly one of the best film romances I can remember in the last few years, just because they bring an energy to it that many films lack. The supporting cast, namely the Adjusters, do include some big names and they are the ones you’ve seen in trailers. We have John Slattery of Mad Men fame as Richardson and Terrance Stamp from Get Smart as Thompson as David’s adversaries, but actually each is only really seen through one half the movie. Richardson is big in the first half, and really is just a guy trying to do his job and having to deal with David’s persistence. Thompson comes in for the second half and he bares the nickname “the hammer” and he does everything he can to stop David, including threats and injury. The more important Adjuster, Harry, is played by a guy you probably will only recognize the face of, Anthony Mackie, who I at least best know from the film Eagle Eye. I can’t really go to much into Harry as he’s a bit to important and could spoil some stuff, but he is there through the whole film and has the most interaction with David. I think this is the first time Mackie has had a solid chance to shine in a good movie and he may not be amazing, but he more than does the job he’s needed for.

Overall The Adjustment Bureau isn’t the thriller that I was expecting or hoping for. Then again, that’s not a bad thing. If you go into this film ready to accept what it gives you, then you’ll likely have a very good time. The acting and writing is very solid and the romance is believable even when strained by, what is to them, the unknown. All in all I could best classify this as movie almost perfectly suited for a date as it is almost a compromise with some solid action and sci-fi intrigued but also humor that works and a romance that you believe. Everyone can leave happy. It may not be perfect, hell its not even exceptional, but I’d pay full price for it.

Rating: 4/5

Reelization:

Mix a little Dark City with a little Logan’s Run and you could easily come up with something close to this film. Its the classic doomed romance with some science fiction for good measure making it a film that can be enjoyed by multiple different audiences.