The Adjuster

This film gave me the creeps. I guess some people like that in a film, and of course that is their prerogative. Sometimes a creepy film will have enough intrigue in other ways to keep my interest and appreciation, but this was not the case with the Adjuster. I almost turned it off because it was making me dread what would happen next. The music made me nervous and I found the characters' neuroses neither amusing nor interesting. In fact, I thought the characters were quite flat in spite of their quirks.

this early atom egoyan film is truly the best of his movies that i have seen, and they are "exotica", "felecia's journey", "the sweet hereafter", "speaking parts" and of course "adjuster". egoyan has a very special gift and that is the way he tells the stories, a way that forces the characters to do things you wouldn't think they'll do, or do them in a very un-expected way. egoyan drives you into the story using all the tools included in a film director's case: beautiful, almost dreamy photography, haunting mysterious music,careful attention to movement and color. that is the case with all his films but in "adjuster" this unique style of his really comes to a peak. the strange story of an insurance adjuster being eaten inside by guilt and fear seems to take place in a world where morality and good are disappearing slowly, living the honest man to burn is his own hell, created by his inability to read the reality that lies before him. this is always a very good story material for films, because it allows the filmmaker an investigation of the psyche, tormented, searching, afraid and yet unable to tie all ropes together to make sense of the world. i recommend watching "the adjuster" and then watching it again after a day or two. if you dig movies, you will not forget this one. an exceptional experience.

(I can't believe the negative comments I have read on this page. I mean, sure, peoples opinions are allowed to differ- thats what makes this world so great blah blah blah etc... but this film is incredible and it would be a shame that someone would disregard renting it out on video because someone had bad-mouthed it here.)

This film is set firmly in Egoyan country. We have dysfunction, we have recorded media, we have beautiful shots, a wonderful score, great dialogue, fantastic use of silence (watch out for that one) and overall- you can feel an almost religious intensity beaming through the celluloid. My memory of this film consists of much more than just a plot- it is the warmth, the colours that stick with you too. One more thing... Tarkovsky said that films best asset was its ability to sculpt in time. Egoyans measured rhythm is hard to resist (obviously not for some people).

It seems to me though, that the complaints here are not to do with the films form. Of course it is well made. They have problems with the script, or at least the order of things. Well, for me- the chaos and strange order of things in this film keeps it gripping- apart from the fact that you never know what is going to come next- isn't this half chaotic order a better rendition of reality than most? The content is also 'strange' and not really in keeping with 'popular taste'. So if you are easily offended, or more at home with Spielberg- then please feel free to stick to him. But this is brave, sumptious, disturbing, invigorating, and beautiful territory. I was pleased to visit it.

P.S. Elias Koteas' performance is probably one of my top five favourite performances ever, up there with Takeshi Kitano in Bad Cop and Christopher Walken in King of New York. Stoic, tragic, he hardly puts a foot wrong.

What a unique and challenging story to work through. The characters are so emotionally unavailable, it is nearly maddening. Even after several days since I watched it, I can't stop thinking about what its purpose is. It requires a second viewing, if one is not too faint of heart. I loved it, even though I did not understand it all the first time. As a recommendation for all of Egoyan's work -- if you're all about the quick fix of action-packed entertainment, look elsewhere. If you want an emotional, suspenseful piece of characterization steeped in a sort of horrid reality, well, this may just be the thing for you. It is a brain teaser. Good luck to all.

*There is also a charming short on the DVD for The Adjuster called "En Passant". It is worth a gander.

Here's one of those art house films, out there in weidorama land, where the lead characters have interesting picked careers, that are both explored, which I found informative. Most of the characters are odd, (it's a Atom Egoyan film, remember) and of course no forgetting wild actor, Koteas. It's great to see him in a lead, especially in something like this. He's a very good actor, who I've followed since seeing him as the bitter paraplegic in that Hogan fare, Almost An Angel. He's more impressive, the more stuff I see from this guy. Here he plays an over caring and over sympathetic insurance adjuster to destroyed and devastated folk, who've lost their homes in fires. He sleeps with some of his clients too, and shows real generosity putting the shattered clients up in this motel. He also does one of the maids. His wife, Arsinee Khanjian is a pornographic censor, who gets caught up in her work, one might say, actually furtively, taping her flicks, and taking her work home to get off. Could she be unfilled sexually? I really liked learning a bit, how the censor worked. And who is this real oddball director (Chaykin) who uses their show home as a film location, where the lead actress begins to strip, while surrounded by a circle of little boys sitting. Of course, we don't get past seeing her with her loud red bra, where what's followed is implied. The Adjuster has a few strange moments, including one lesbian, feeling up another on a train in frank view of Khanjian sitting across, fascinated. But none more unforgettable is obviously Chaykin, beating off at Koteas's window. Chaykin too, has formed a weird relationship with Khanjian's younger sister which provides a disturbing twist in it's end. Even though Koteas does his really good part, as a troubled and distressed guy, he's upstaged by Chaykin who I thought rocked. His character was so intriguing, though the performance that really stuck, and it was a small part, was that of the head censor, Hemblen. He was brilliant, almost beyond belief, so naturalistic, he too, providing another weird moment. With it's mini promotional poster, of Elias, holding a bow and arrow (what's with that?) this was movie a movie that got my vested interested, I wasn't disappointed in any way by this movie, except, the High Level Sex Scenes warning, the main one, where Koteas is making love with one of his clients, in a teasing darkness, Koteas and co, practically silhouettes. Yes, it has style, is semi arousing, thought provoking, and of course, remotely original, but at the end of it, in spite of all these plusses, The Adjuster, doesn't really equate to much. There just wasn't enough here, like filling to a sandwich. You walk away feeling unmoved, only that's not how you feel when you watch it. Like many directors, Eyogan went on to cast some of the same actors, for his better 'Exotica'. Definitely, still a recommended view. Don't cross it off. Some David Lynch fans might get a buzz out of it too.