“We have no fate but what we make,” is the line made famous by The Terminator franchise back in the early ‘80s. In 2011, The Adjustment Bureau counteracts that philosophy with a secret society of “agents” who are responsible for all of humanity’s important decisions. The question of “fate” is one that has perplexed humans for centuries. Do human beings truly have free will, or is every facet of life already determined by some greater power adjusting and redirecting timelines? If it’s the latter, then that power should have spent a little more energy on adjusting The Adjustment Bureau.
David Norris (Matt Damon) is a young New York congressman with a very bright future ahead of him. During his senate campaign, some compromising photos from his past turn up in the local paper, derailing his apparent victory. A “chance” encounter with a woman, Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada), right before David is to give his concession speech turns out to be the most pivotal point in his life, however he later stumbles upon a deeply guarded secret which proves there is very little in life left up to chance at all.
The Adjustment Bureau holds a wealth of intrigue in its story, which just about anyone on the planet can identify with. Leaving your driveway 5 minutes late or even early can decide whether a normal mundane routine or a horrible traffic accident awaits your arrival. Unfortunately in this film, those subtle decisions are not amplified in the story to the level they could have been explored. Most of the plot is based around a love story, which is not uninteresting on its own, however there is so much wasted opportunity to explore uncharted ground in a unique subject like this rather than reiterating the power of true love for the eternal time.
The writing in this film is well polished but for the most part uninteresting. The “agents” in the bureau are exposed to the audience almost immediately and without any alluring mystery behind them. This was an exorbitant misuse of the freedom to create an eerie and solicitous tone with original characters that hold answers to age-old questions about the universe. Though there is one pleasant exception in a scene where Harry (Anthony Mackie, We Are Marshall), a rogue “agent” that feels more sympathy for David’s situation than the rest of the bureau, reveals an interesting account for why many of the world’s awful events ever occurred.
Performances in The Adjustment Bureau are very solid but not distinguished considering the actors could have pushed the limits of the subject matter out to infinity. Also, some of the scenes play out as a little rushed and untrue to how an everyday person would react to the unprecedented revelation of how fate is actually determined. But what cannot go unnoticed is the incredible chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. The two co-stars magically pull off the feat of true love at first sight without even a glimmer of cynicism. It’s as if they’ve filmed the past 10 or 20 movies together or have been life-long friends. Another highlight is the inclusion of Terrance Stamp (Superman II, Wall Street) as Thompson. Stamp’s impeccable and intimidating delivery of dialogue brings back some of the cryptic overtones to the bureau that was squandered in the first 10 minutes of the film.
The Adjustment Bureau has one of the more intriguing subject matters to be covered by a sci-fi film in the last decade. The story unfolds a little too quickly and then slams on the brakes in the 2nd Act. It does pick up nicely near the end and even captivates the audience into thinking there will be some great reveal or twist on just who is in charge of the bureau, but unfortunately the story once again gets lazy and relies on rhetoric to tie up any loose ends. Although the film does expend too much of the plot on true love, it does exemplify that trait nicely, once again beating the drum of what makes humans so very “special” to the universe.
Story: 7.0
Acting: 7.5
Writing: 7.0
Captivation: 7.5
Replay Value: 6.0
Total = 7.0
