(Long Island, N.Y.) The Adjustment Bureau has, at its core, an interesting concept that never quite feels fleshed out enough. If they had really run
with its rather interesting concept, it might have resulted in a great movie, rather than just a good one. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this flick, and I think you will too.
The Adjustment Bureau is based on a short story by late sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. Actually, there’s been a bunch
of great movies based (many say loosely) on Mr. Dick’s work, such as Blade Runner and Total Recall, and the quality of The Adjustment Bureau kinda tells me that I should get my lazy butt up one day and actually try reading one of this guy’s books. But, for now, we’ll have to make do with the film version to get us by.
The Adjustment Bureau (three paragraphs in a row starting with the same phrase? That’s gotta violate some kind of writing law…ah, screw it) is basically about this secret, age-old society that controls the events of mankind. They do
so not by controlling the minds of the populace (though they can “alter” attitudes and, if you really cross them, wipe your mind completely), but by shaping events in an attempt to get people that are a part of their “plan” to make the decisions they want to see that plan to its conclusion. This mysterious organization does back off when they think mankind is doing okay, but every time we mess up, they step back in and take the reigns of destiny from us once again.
The Adjustment Bureau (now it’s FOUR paragraphs!!) centers not on the overall effects on society of this clandestine super-group (whose origins and true scope, sadly, are never revealed, but it’s heavily hinted that they’re angels and their boss, the “Chairman,” is actually God), but on just one man: David Norris (the always solid and entertaining Matt Damon). David is an “everyman” type politician running for the United States Senate who one day happens to run into the love of his life in the men’s bathroom (um, but it’s not what you think – it’s a chick). Elise (Emily Blunt) is a weirdo who does annoying things like crashing weddings by herself, dropping David’s expensive Blackberry into cups of coffee on purpose, and giving him the finger. No wonder he falls for the charming little sweetheart.
However, getting jiggy with Elise is NOT in The Adjustment Bureau’s plans for David, and soon he’s visited by a Bureau agent named Richardson (John Slattery) and his personal “caseworker,” Harry Mitchell (Anthony Mackie). Basically, they freeze all the personnel in his office, drag David to an abandoned warehouse, and tell him in no uncertain terms who they are and that hooking up with Elise will end up veering him off the course they have laid out for him: the White House. The agents warn David that, if he either continues to louse up their plans or, even worse, tells anyone about the Bureau, they’ll erase his brain, rendering him a drooling goofball for all intents and purposes.
David, of course, agrees, but on a chance encounter with Elise three years later, he starts up with her again and the Bureau brings in their big gun to deal with the situation: General Zod (Terence Stamp). Yes, they actually refer to Zod as “Thompson” in his movie, but we all know who he’s REALLY supposed to be, right? Anyway, Zod starts playing mind games with David, and basically gives him the lowdown on what exactly will happen to both
he and Elise if things continue with their relationship. Not once does Zod command David to kneel before him, but he still manages to make his point: again David backs off.
However, can true love ever be denied? Circumstances (not to mention a little help from Harry Mitchell, who’s feeling a little guilty about his part in all this) not only show David some of the inner workings of The Adjustment Bureau, but again drive him to pursue Elise, this time not caring about the costs.
As I said, The Adjustment Bureau
is an interesting, briskly-paced romantic sci-fi thriller with some great performances and a neat concept. The cast across the board is wonderful – Matt Damon continues to expand his range as he ages, and he possesses some real chemistry with co-star Emily Blunt, which thankfully makes the crazy rapid progression of their relationship a bit easier to buy. John Slattery and Anthony Mackie give surprising performances, as normally you’d expect agents from some mysterious world-controlling group to be heartless and unemotional, but these two put a very real human face on the Bureau. And, of course, who could forget Terence Stamp’s tour-de-force turn, reprising his role of General Zod from Superman 2? These days Zod has shed his trademark black pantaloons in
favor of a business suit, and he’s foregone flying around and using his heat vision…and he does kinda walk like an old man now…wait, was he really General Zod? Oh, of course he was. And he was great.
The film also has this cool little element where Bureau agents
who wear special little hats can use everyday doors to magically teleport to anywhere they need to go, and this added an interesting little twist on the chase scenes. I suppose this element is what has people comparing The Adjustment Bureau to Christopher Nolan’s Inception, but trust me – if you’ve seen both, you’d know they have almost nothing in common with each other.
My only complaints are
the fact that they could have expanded more on the nature and background of The Adjustment Bureau itself, the ending is a little on the sappy side, and,
despite the film’s story being about having free will, a plot point surfaces that makes their intense attraction to each other appear possibly more the result of old Bureau plans that were never fully erased than the couple’s own choices. But that’s something for us to debate about, and that’s always a good thing when a movie can do that.
So, The Adjustment Bureau is a good little flick, accessible to a wide audience despite its sci-fi trappings due to some good performances and the inclusion of General Zod. Go see it.
