Directed by:
George NolfiScreenplay:
George NolfiCinematography:
John TollComposer:
Thomas NewmanCast:
Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, Michael Kelly, John Slattery, Lauren Hodges, Terence Stamp, Dan Marshall, Jon Stewart, James Carville (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Do we control our destiny, or do unseen forces manipulate us? Matt Damon stars in the thriller The Adjustment Bureau as a man who glimpses the future Fate has planned for him and realizes he wants something else. To get it, he must pursue the only woman he’s ever loved across, under and through the streets of modern-day New York. On the brink of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, ambitious politician David Norris (Damon) meets beautiful contemporary ballet dancer Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) - a woman like none he’s ever known. But just as he realizes he’s falling for her, mysterious men conspire to keep the two apart. David learns he is up against the agents of Fate itself - the men of The Adjustment Bureau - who will do everything in their considerable power to prevent David and Elise from being together. In the face of overwhelming odds, he must either let her go and accept a predetermined path… or risk everything to defy Fate and be with her. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (12)
A nice surprise. Damon and Blunt are strong together, and Nolfi's attempt to diversify the romance of the (ex)congressman and dancer with the sci-fi element of "destiny controllers" worked, especially since his retro approach shows exaggeration, not an attempt to extract something extremely effective from Dick's story. Against each other stand a politician in love and a cute bunch of officials in hats, in whose scuffed notebooks a clear probabilistic map of the world is written. If we stop looking for philosophical consistency or logic in this, The Adjustment Bureau will reward us with a surprisingly fresh mix of thriller and romantic drama. Unlike 500 Days of Summer or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the film doesn’t quite have poetics, but debutant Nolfi is very skilled and knows what he wants to shoot. After my initial skepticism and sarcasm (four old men in bucket hats run the world? WTF?) I just had a great time (although with my eyebrows raised every now and then), which I don't usually do with film love stories. Points for Nolfi. P.S. I finally understand where Mr. Tau came from.
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I’m sorry, but if someone is predestined for something big, they shouldn’t waste their time with love, which is nothing but a solace for blundering mortals! :-) Anyway, The Adjustment Bureau is a nice genre crossover flick that places a hackneyed romance plot in an original setting and enriches it with interesting musings about destiny. A week after watching it, I’m increasing my rating to four stars thanks to the film’s originality. If it had a different, sadder ending, I wouldn’t have hesitated.
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Has it ever happened to you that you meet Ms (or Mr) Right and circumstances spoiled it all for you? Well it wasn’t the circumstances, but guys in hats controlling your fate. A refreshing plot, even fateful romance (Dick is an endless fountain of ideas), excellently transformed into movie format. Nolfi may not be Spielberg or Scott, but he best captures the playfulness and versatility of P.K. Dick’s imagination. Matt Damon plays another nice guy and Emily Blunt is surprisingly well matched to him. Maybe it doesn’t deserve a clean five, but I have a weakness for this genre. And Thomas Newman rocks again.
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On top of a clichéd romantic subplot, complete with a final dash to rescue love, there’s a lightly exaggerated sci-fi element meant to explore themes like determinism and free will. Meanwhile, the guys in hats are just a cheap bunch of cockblockers that the office director might as well have put to polishing the handles of portal doors. Maybe what was missing at the end was a little touch, like Coldplay in Wicker Park, to give it a similar impact. Instead, I endured an unconvincing whiner who hops around like a lovesick bunny after Emily Blunt (which is understandable) and the hopes I placed in Terry Stamp's post-coitum pill also went unfulfilled. Ultimately, New York itself and Anthony Mackie, who becomes another Bagger Vance for Damon, are the most effective elements.
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I fell in love with the movie the moment David fell in love with Elise. The first time they met in the bathroom gave me chills. I've been falling for it ever since. The idea of the hats as a "key" to the door was extremely original. The final scene, when the lovers hugged each other and said those beautiful words to each other instead of any reaction, moved me tremendously. A film full of loving decisions and actions…
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