This Movie Needs a Slight Adjustment
Have you ever had a chance encounter with someone that you never saw again, but thought about for years afterward? Or found yourself having to choose between a relationship and a career? What if the fact that you never saw that person again or had to make that difficult choice was all part of a plan? In fact, aside from such inconsequential things as the meals you crave or the toothpaste you use, everything you do that affects the course of your life was already mapped out and only required an occasional bump (spilled coffee, a dropped book, a distracting noise) to stay on the right path.
These are the ideas that The Adjustment Bureau, a new film starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt and directed by The Bourne Ultimatum scripter George Nolfi, tries to address. It’s an intriguing premise with the potential to wrap a thought-provoking deliberation on fate in a thrilling package. Is that The Adjustment Bureau’s outcome?
Matt Damon plays David Norris, a rock star political candidate whose career takes a hit. He hides out in a restroom to gather himself where he meets Elise (Blunt), an elegant beauty who quickly captures David’s heart. Alas, they are separated by circumstances of the moment. However, on the way to work the next day, David runs into Elise again and their interest in each other grows. This is clearly the beginning of an incredible relationship.
But David was never supposed to see Elise again.
His coffee was supposed to spill, causing him to be ten minutes late to work. Since this did not happen, Norris not only had his bus ride with Elise but also arrived to work on time and, thus, walks in as his co-worker is being “worked on” by a mysterious team of men in suits and S.W.A.T.-like outfits.
David just witnessed something nobody ever is supposed to see: an adjustment. It turns out our lives follow specific paths that are pre-ordained by The Chairman (an omnipresent individual we never see in the film) and it’s up to scores of men dressed like members of the cast of Mad Men to make sure those plans follow through. Any time chance causes a slight deviation these men step in and make an adjustment to get us back on track.
David is told he can never see Elise again and if he tells anyone what he’s witnessed they will completely wipe his mind. David still plans on finding Elise; you can see it in his eyes. He’s met someone incredible and he’s not going to easily give up the possibility of a life with that person. What follows is an exciting series of cat-and-mouse chases as David tries to change his fate in order to be with Elise again.
In order for a film like this to work it is vital for the audience to care deeply about the couple’s happiness. For as much as David doggedly pursues Elise’s whereabouts, she had better be one hell of a catch!
The good news is this is The Adjustment Bureau’s greatest strength. Elise is one hell of a catch. Emily Blunt, in a role sure to take her from vague recognition (remember, she’s the bitch in The Devil Wears Prada!) to Big Name star, makes for an absolutely captivating love interest. She’s classy yet playful, elegant yet adventurous, with eyes striking enough to disarm a man with one gaze. Basically, she is the perfect date. We only get her in short bursts for much of the movie and, like Damon’s character, would do anything to get more time with her. Not only that, but you can see the spark ignite in David Norris’ eyes; their bond is instantaneous. Yet you’d think, once Norris has Elise in conversation once again, he’d try harder to hold on. Doesn’t she have an address or a Facebook profile?
And Damon, one of the biggest and lasting movie stars of today, is incredibly likeable and believable as a politician who can appeal to most demographics without resorting to indecency or manipulation. He grabs the audience and never once lets them go during his adventure.
You care so much about their being together and worry every time an adjustment causes her to slip through his fingers that you almost could do without all the urgent meetings between Bureau members.
That’s a symptom of the film’s biggest failing. Its concept, based on a Philip K. Dick story titled ‘The Adjustment Team’, comes up short of its potential. A film like this could spin thought-provoking questions about fate, religion, and chance around its palatable love story. Unfortunately, the logic regarding the Bureau and its interest in Norris ends up being as slippery as Elise’s presence in David’s life. That’s too bad, because it’s precisely what prevents The Adjustment Bureau from being this year’s first great film.
And yet there are still enough thrills here to entertain. The film may not have much to say about fate (it is humanity’s training bra for when we’ve grown up enough to handle Free Will) and it may treat its concept as nothing more than a device to tell a story about love conquering all obstacles. But thanks to the strength of its leads (and supporting performances by Mad Men’s John Slattery and The Hurt Locker’s Anthony Mackie), The Adjustment Bureau remains a gripping romantic fantasy-thriller. It may require you to think less – not more – but it still makes for a fun date movie.
6/10
Should you see it? Rent
The Adjustment Bureau is now in theaters. In 2D.