THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (2011), written and directed by George Nolfi based on the story “Adjustment Team” by Philip K. Dick. Starring Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Terence Stamp and Michael Kelly.
So, do you believe in free will? In the realm of theory and hypothesis it’s not something I would bother arguing for or against. On an operational basis, I tend to presume that, aside from the basic biological factors, we generally are the masters of our own fate. I’m certainly not a believer in the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, which seems to be at least a partial basis for THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU’s variant of cinematic theology. Ultimately the film comes down on the side of free will, presumably because it’s more fun to believe and allows for a happy ending.
David Norris (Matt Damon) is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from New York, and on election night he knows he’s going to lose. He’s practicing his concession speech when he accidentally encounters Elise (Emily Blunt), a British-born ballerina. They talk briefly, have “a moment” of sorts and then she has to run off. Norris then goes out before the crowd, ignores what he’s prepared and delivers a spur-of-the-moment speech that is sure to keep him in the news until the next election cycle.
Some days later, Norris meets Elise on a bus and this time gets her number. Then he goes to work, his first day at his new job, barely noticing that everyone in the office is frozen in place as if time is standing still, which it is.
Norris soon encounters a team of pushy men wearing gray suits with matching trilby hats, led by Richardson (John Slattery) and including Harry Mitchell (Anthony Mackie) who detain him by force and explain that he is never to meet Elise again. They don’t say much about who they are but they do say that their job is to keep things “according to the plan.” Then they let him go, and he can’t get back to them. Later he encounters Mitchell, who explains a little more about the bureau and how they travel through certain doors around the city, among other things. The point is driven home that he can’t see Elise again, along with the fact that he could become a great man some day if he stops pursuing her. However, things don’t always work out as planned and love, as always, is a wild card that changes everything. Soon a higher-ranking trilby guy (Terrance Stamp) pursues him as Norris struggles to find a way out of his fate.
Norris asks Mitchell if they are angels, and he says “We’ve been called that.” The workers appear to be something akin to humans, however, and Norris has no problem knocking a few out with well-placed punches, so they’re clearly not super-powered. Their main strength appears to be their knowledge of their charges and their personalities. There are references to “The Chairman,” everybody’s boss, and though it’s never explicitly stated one assumes him to be a deity of some sort.
The philosophical and theological issues the film raises are somewhat interesting, if not always well-presented, but the film works best as a romantic melodrama. Norris knows he’s bound for greatness if he can shake this woman out of his mind, but he can’t and doesn’t want to, because she is more important to him. He simply refuses to accept the fate that has been explained to him in detail by the people in the fate business. I sympathized with Norris because I know that happiness and unhappiness can come in many forms, and he wants to find the option he believes will bring both Elise and himself the greatest happiness.
This is a good movie that, like the similarly-themed MINORITY REPORT, fails to take its concept to a deeper and less pleasant level, instead settling for an ending that isn’t entirely satisfactory. I should note that there is also ample opportunity for satire here that goes unexploited. I was still happy to see the conclusion, and for that you can credit a hard-working cast.
Damon is his usual likable, sincere, all-American-dude self as Norris. He doesn’t have to stretch much here but he’s chosen a good vehicle that fits this persona. Emily Blunt is good as one of those quirky urban chicks who’s more cute and likable than bombshell-hot, though when she goes through her dance routine her body moves up a few grades on the strokability scale. She’s better here than in the recent film THE WOLFMAN and though it’s not really a “breakout” role, she does just fine here. MAD MEN’s John Slattery, who seems to have been born to play characters in gray suits and trilbies, makes a good fate cop, as does screen legend Terence Stamp. Anthony Mackie, one of those actors I should have heard of before but hadn’t, is quite good in the role of Harry Mitchell, Norris’s case worker from the Adjustment Bureau.
This movie is a decent romance, a good thriller and a modest think piece. It could have been far more interesting but it works okay as it is.