THE PLOT
Congressman David Norris (Matt Damon) is the leading candidate for the New York seat in the US Senate until photographs of a minor college indiscretion collapse his chances, like so many falling cards. An unlikely meeting with the stimulating Elise (Emily Blunt) in the men’s room, moments before his concessionary speech, gives him the spur to be frank and self deprecating, much to his aides chagrin.
Enter a group of trilby-wearing mysterios and what appears to be a dark plot. These are the men of the Adjustment Bureau, men who seem to know the future and set about manipulating it to their purpose. But what is that purpose? Do we control our destiny or is someone calling the shots? Agent Harry Mitchell (8 Mile’s Anthony Mackie) is Norris’ case worker, responsible for ensuring David spills his coffee in order to alter his future, but misses his opportunity resulting in two chance encounters that were never meant to be; the first, a second meeting with Elise and worse yet, he walks in on the Bureau at work on his friends and colleagues.
Freaked out, Norris flees, but each corridor he turns down and every room he enters his pursuers appear ahead of him, lead by Mad Men’s John Slattery. Eventually cornered, he is captured and informed that he was never meant to meet Elise again as he is not fated to be with her. The Bureau threatens to wipe David’s memory if he speaks of their existence and warn him away from Elise.
The result of his ‘off-script’ speech days earlier turns his fortunes, pushing him to stand again 3 years later with much good will and popularity. The passing time has done nothing to temper his thoughts of Elise and the frustration of never meeting her again. Every day he takes the same bus on which their last meeting took place, in the hope of meeting her again. Once again chance plays it’s part and they run into each other, launching the Bureau into action as they set about to break them apart.
THE REVIEW
Yet another film from the seemingly endless list of novels from Philip K. Dick, this is mostly about entertainment rather than deeper meaning, irrespective of the attempts to the contrary. But the entertainment value is quite high.
There are none-to-subtle allusions to a ‘god-like’ figure in the form of the never-seen-always-spoken-of Chairman, making the members of the Bureau his angelic minions. If you can cope with this pretence the movie runs quite well, but I’m betting some might find it tedious or frustrating in this regard.
The chase sequences are frenetic and well delivered with simple CGI enhancements that are nicely underplayed and relatively unobtrusive in spite of their importance to the plot.
Matt Damon is as reliable and convincing as ever, effortlessly portraying the rarest of people, a genuinely nice-guy politician. Emily Blunt was possibly miscast from the perspective that she struggled to maintain the accent, something that could so easily have been covered by the fact that the character is a ballerina, who feasibly may be well travelled. Why not just be English? The modern world is a small place! That aside, The Adjustment Bureau is entertaining and roughly worth the price of admission, but where critics getting ‘Inception meets Bourne’ is giving it more credit and gravitas than it deserves.
THE VERDICT
Entertaining, enjoyable and worth a watch, but never really exhilarating.
TC
Director: George Nolfi
Writers: George Nolfi (screenplay) and Philip K. Dick (short story)
Stars: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery and Terence Stamp
Running Time: 105 Mins
Congressman David Norris (Matt Damon) is the leading candidate for the New York seat in the US Senate until photographs of a minor college indiscretion collapse his chances, like so many falling cards. An unlikely meeting with the stimulating Elise (Emily Blunt) in the men’s room, moments before his concessionary speech, gives him the spur to be frank and self deprecating, much to his aides chagrin.
Enter a group of trilby-wearing mysterios and what appears to be a dark plot. These are the men of the Adjustment Bureau, men who seem to know the future and set about manipulating it to their purpose. But what is that purpose? Do we control our destiny or is someone calling the shots? Agent Harry Mitchell (8 Mile’s Anthony Mackie) is Norris’ case worker, responsible for ensuring David spills his coffee in order to alter his future, but misses his opportunity resulting in two chance encounters that were never meant to be; the first, a second meeting with Elise and worse yet, he walks in on the Bureau at work on his friends and colleagues.
Freaked out, Norris flees, but each corridor he turns down and every room he enters his pursuers appear ahead of him, lead by Mad Men’s John Slattery. Eventually cornered, he is captured and informed that he was never meant to meet Elise again as he is not fated to be with her. The Bureau threatens to wipe David’s memory if he speaks of their existence and warn him away from Elise.
The result of his ‘off-script’ speech days earlier turns his fortunes, pushing him to stand again 3 years later with much good will and popularity. The passing time has done nothing to temper his thoughts of Elise and the frustration of never meeting her again. Every day he takes the same bus on which their last meeting took place, in the hope of meeting her again. Once again chance plays it’s part and they run into each other, launching the Bureau into action as they set about to break them apart.
THE REVIEW
Yet another film from the seemingly endless list of novels from Philip K. Dick, this is mostly about entertainment rather than deeper meaning, irrespective of the attempts to the contrary. But the entertainment value is quite high.
There are none-to-subtle allusions to a ‘god-like’ figure in the form of the never-seen-always-spoken-of Chairman, making the members of the Bureau his angelic minions. If you can cope with this pretence the movie runs quite well, but I’m betting some might find it tedious or frustrating in this regard.
The chase sequences are frenetic and well delivered with simple CGI enhancements that are nicely underplayed and relatively unobtrusive in spite of their importance to the plot.
Matt Damon is as reliable and convincing as ever, effortlessly portraying the rarest of people, a genuinely nice-guy politician. Emily Blunt was possibly miscast from the perspective that she struggled to maintain the accent, something that could so easily have been covered by the fact that the character is a ballerina, who feasibly may be well travelled. Why not just be English? The modern world is a small place! That aside, The Adjustment Bureau is entertaining and roughly worth the price of admission, but where critics getting ‘Inception meets Bourne’ is giving it more credit and gravitas than it deserves.
THE VERDICT
Entertaining, enjoyable and worth a watch, but never really exhilarating.
TC
Director: George Nolfi
Writers: George Nolfi (screenplay) and Philip K. Dick (short story)
Stars: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery and Terence Stamp
Running Time: 105 Mins
NOW SEE THE TRAILER...
UK Release Date: 4th March 2011
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