Der Plan

There's no reason why The Adjustment Bureau isn't included in the top "fate flicks", like Inception, Interstellar, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Unbreakable, and Minority Report. It's really good! I went with my family to the theaters to see it when it was released, and we were all on the edge of our seats. Except my mom, who was jealously eyeing Emily Blunt because she knew my dad had a crush on her.

Basically, if you like the Bourne Identity movies, you'll love this one. Matt Damon stars in another thriller about fate and total strangers knowing more about his life than he does, but I liked this better than the more famous trilogy. I'm not the biggest Damon fan, but I was so engrossed in George Nolfi's screenplay, the lead actor could have been played by anyone and I would have liked it. He starts the movie as a senatorial candidate, but a chance encounter with a beautiful interpretive dancer (Emily Blunt) rocks his world. He sees her again and they start dating, and pretty soon they fall in love. But one night, he gets kidnapped and taken to a mysterious warehouse by the "bad guys".

Are they really the bad guys, though? They're the titular bureau, led by Terence Stamp, in charge of making sure everyone stays on his or her path. When people deviate from their predestined path, they "adjust" things so life goes back on track. Depending on your point of view, Damon is the pot-stirring villain and Stamp is the hero who sees the bigger picture - which is why this movie is so enjoyable. You can root for anyone you want to, and it can spark any number of conversations afterwards with your friends. You'll also see lots of familiar faces, like John Slattery, Michael Kelly, Jennifer Ehle, and Anthony Mackie, as well as New Yorkers giving cameos, like Jon Stewart, James Carville, Chuck Scarborough, Michael Bloomberg, Terry McAullife, Jesse Jackson, and Madeleine Albright. Check it out!

In New York, the prominent politician David Norris (Matt Damon) is disputing the election for the Senate but his past of bad boy makes him lose the election. He meets the stranger Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) hidden in the Waldorf's toilet and she tells that she had crashed a party and the security guards are chasing her. They start a conversation and they immediately fall in love with each other. However the guards find her and David does not see her again. However she inspires him to make a remarkable speech.

One day, David is traveling by bus and he meets Elise again. She gives her phone number to him and David promises to call her. However, strangers wearing hats approach to David and tell that they belong to the Adjustment Bureau and Elise and David must be kept apart. They destroy the piece of paper with her phone number and David is unable to contact Elise. Three years later, David sees Elise walking on the sidewalk. He gets out of the bus to meet her and he learns that she is a dancer. But the strangers use their abilities to keep them apart. What is the reason why David and Elise can not be together?

"The Adjustment Bureau" is a romantic and suspenseful sci-fi based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, the writer of "Blade Runner", "Total Recall", "Impostor", "Minority Report", "Paycheck", "A Scanner Darkly" and "Next", among other sci-fi films. The intriguing story is ambiguous; the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt is wonderful; and it is always great to see Terence Stamp. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Agentes do Destino" ("The Agents of Destiny")

Note: On 06 September 2023, I saw this film again.

This movie has been a very good experience for me. I found the story extremelly interesting and intelligent.I enjoyed every second, cause there was a lot of action, mystery (in the nice way of it), romance, humor, and at the same time the story made you think deeper about life it self. About getting out of your little every day life and try to see the "greater picture". How ready and capable is any of us "every day people" to make a change, to believe, to dare, to even actual think "differently" in any part of our lives...

I'm starting to like this new genre of science fiction romance that "The Adjustment Bureau" falls into. Hollywood seems to have learned how to add a significant amount thought to their films, just with their usual dumbing-down procedures.

David (Matt Damon) has met Elise (Emily Blunt) and based on one spontaneous kiss and one flirtatious encounter, he's determined that she's the one he's supposed to be with. They have other plans. Oh yes, the indefinable, ambiguous pronoun "they". Just to keep a sense of the intrigue afloat, I'll define "they" as the men of "The Adjustment Bureau". What they want, we don't really know. But David wants the girl—a beautiful girl—but just a girl nonetheless.

For us, questions of free will, fate, soul mates, success and pre-defined destinies abound. All running around an intricate maze of New York architecture. Although intricate might not be the best word because there's nothing here for us to figure out; the film lays everything out well in advance, and over and over again in case you missed it. At least there's intelligence to the story but unfortunately no subtlety.

"The Adjustment Bureau" has pretty city-scapes and pretty people playing more profound characters than pretty people usually play. As with most genre-mixing films, there is something for everybody. I got the intelligence that is usually sorely missing from big-budget Hollywood action films although I could have done with a bit more respect.

The fascinating premise, that there are some talented actors on board and the generally positive word of mouth were my reasons for seeing 'The Adjustment Bureau'. Seeing it, there are no regrets watching it but at the same time it was a little frustrating. It is an interesting and decent film, but had real potential to be a great one and could have been much more.

Matt Damon is a charismatic presence and commands the film with ease without ever trying too hard. Emily Blunt has a genuine winning charm as one often finds with Blunt, her character is not quite as interesting as Damon's but Blunt makes it work. The two have great chemistry together, it really sparkles. In fact it is the romance that comes off the best and most consistently, being where 'The Adjustment Bureau' really comes alive. Anthony Mackie is suitably mysterious while also quite likable in the film's latter stages.

John Slattery really looks the part and has a lot of fun in a suitably shady role while Terence Stamp brings some sinister dignity and authority to a rather severely underwritten character that appears in the film too late somewhat. On the acting front, 'The Adjustment Bureau' is very good.

As it is too with the way it's made, suitably gritty and slick with some inventive moments and an audacious style. The locations are chosen well and used cleverly. The music score has a good mix of understatement and thrilling pulsation. The first half has a lot of very interesting and smart ideas that leaves one gripped enough to carry on and see further how it goes and there is a good deal of fun and a few suspenseful jolts to be had.

For all those great things, 'The Adjustment Bureau' would have been an even better film if it had done more with the premise. The romance is the most well done and memorable element of it and the rest doesn't live up. It's intriguing and entertaining, but the second half suffers from playing it too safe and having too many ideas needing to be tied up, meaning that potentially great ideas are not fully expanded upon (even the whole basic premise doesn't feel fully cooked).

Pacing does get stodgy, as a result of the lack of risk-taking and struggles with keeping things probable and consistent. Despite the conflict being well performed the threat feels lacking because it is handled in a way that's under-cooked and somewhat repetitive which dilutes the suspense quite badly. The more under-explored 'The Adjustment Bureau' gets, the more confusing, tonally muddled and far-fetched it gets too. This is especially true with the ending, which to me is down there with the decade's "what the heck" film endings.

Overall, has a lot to recommend but there was a lot more to the film that never fully emerged. 6/10 Bethany Cox