(Could use a few adjustments to the ending.)
After enduring one horrendous movie after another, I was starting to get worried that perhaps maybe this year was going to be as hopeless for the box office as last year was. Despite this fear I went to see The Adjustment Bureau and had relatively high hopes that I could find a decent movie that had a cast of A-list actors. Did The Adjustment Bureau deliver on all fronts?
David Norris (Matt Damon) is having a very successful run for democratic senator of New York when his campaign takes a turn for the worst because of frat boy behavior back in his college days, which tarnishes his image. By chance, after losing, Matt Damon meets Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) in the men's room and turns his bitter defeat into an opportunity. By chance after meeting her again, David's world is turned upside down when he encounters one of his staff being investigated by a strange group of people. It's here that David learns of the Adjustment Bureau, a group of men in fancy fedoras who make a series of adjustments to make sure you are sticking to the plan, which is basically how your life should be played out. David's plan calls for him to stay away from Elise because it's simply not in either plan. Despite all this, David decides to continue to see Elise, which could potentially ruin both their lives.
What we have here is an interesting, but not entirely unique experience. The Adjustment Bureau has a really strong start and keeps that momentum going for the most part, but once it reaches the third act, it starts to fall apart eventually collapsing at the very end. It was almost like the story had been adjusted by men in fancy hats who were trying to convince me that we can't have a good movie yet! While the story falls apart, the one part of the writing where this movie stays strong is in its characters. Not only do these characters get some funny lines, the chemistry between Emily Blunt and Matt Damon is so strong with this movie, it feels real. While the performances aren't what I would call oscar worthy, I am not saying they are terrible, they're definitely above average A-list casting with an unknown director.
The movie's atmosphere is brought to life by some decent cinematography, but my favorite scenes are when David's meeting the guys in the adjustment bureau. These guys look like something out of a classic 30's era film, and a lot of their set design sort of reflects this. The one thing I found to be a little silly in this movie was that all the power comes from the hat. Seriously, the hat is the source of god-like abilities to make adjustments to a person's life? I think it should have been a combo of the hat and the clothes. The one awesome thing these guys can do with their hats is use doors to jump from one point to another, such as taking a door to a stadium can lead you to the statue of liberty. How awesome is that for fast travel?
Despite its flaws, The Adjustment Bureau is a pretty good movie. While its premise is a lot like The Matrix in that we're not supposed to be aware of these guys, it's a sci-fi movie more akin to Inception. The difference here is that while Inception requires you to pay attention, most of The Adjustment Bureau is given in a more straight forward manner that's easier to comprehend. I ended up liking this movie for its characters as opposed to its story telling, and that's a complement from me because a little flaw like a bad end can ruin a movie, but the characters save it.
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