Review of The Adjustment Bureau (2011) by Robert S — 04 Jul 2012

This movie is fairly well-made, clever in parts, and has a killer premise, but unfortunately chooses to do something kinda "meh" with said premise. It's not a bad movie by any means, but I guess it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be.

The story, adapted from a Philip K. Dick story, follows an ambitious young U.S. congressman, played by Matt Damon, who suddenly and unexpectedly falls in love with a woman played by Emily Blunt. Unfortunately for him, however, there seems to be a mysterious cabal of well-dressed men in fedoras who are determined that he should be kept away from her, and they are able to employ seemingly inexplicable powers in order to achieve their goal. These men, they claim, adjust things here and there so that the world will proceed according to plan. But whose plan?

I guess what bothers me about the movie is that, while the premise of there being a bunch of mysterious people who silently adjust the world in such a way that free will might be an illusion they perpetuate is indeed an awesome premise, the conflict Damon's character has with this group is not that amazing. So he just has to be with this woman he met one time because he was instantly and forever in love with her? That's a little cliche and sentimental, don't you think? Not to mention a little low-stakes for people whose powers are seemingly limitless. I would have liked Damon's character to have some motivation more original and compelling than "But I'm in love with her!".

Damon and Blunt are both fine, though their characters exist mainly to pursue each other. I found the actual members of the adjustment bureau themselves more interesting. Anthony Mackie actually has the best role in the movie, as an adjuster who might have a little more sympathy for his subject than protocol says he should. John Slattery is very good as a weary middle-management guy in the bureau. And Terence Stamp makes a great appearance late in the movie as a very high-up guy in the bureau.

The movie has some interesting ideas and clever usage of special effects. We're invited to speculate on the nature of the adjustment bureau without being given a definite answer. Although I only thought this movie was pretty good, I think they could actually make a great sequel that retained the bureau itself but ditched the Damon and Blunt characters for other characters with more interesting stories. I don't expect that would happen, but if it did, it could be really good.