Have you ever been out to dinner with a group of friends and the food’s not that great, but the conversation is really thought provoking? You go home hungry, but thinking. That’s how I felt about The Adjustment Bureau.
I love the movie’s theme — destiny vs. free will — but unfortunately, the plot got in the way. David Norris (Matt Damon) is a politician destined to do great things, and Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) is a dancer destined for a big stage. They meet in a bathroom as Norris practices a concession speech and it’s love at first sight. Destiny has been hijacked. A group of hat-wearing men from the adjustment bureau are sent in by the Chairman (God?) to get everything back on track. The romance starts and stops, the hatted men go in-and-out of mysterious doors, and you’re thinking you’re glad Matt Damon is the protagonist because almost anyone else would have been totally unbelievable.
The movie tries to do too much — romance, mystery, action — but ends up not doing enough of any one thing.
First of all, does the Chairman (God?) really care more about who’s president or creating great dancers than love? I would hope not! If love at first sight isn’t destiny then surely destiny doesn’t exist. Interesting, but left unexplored, was the difference in the men at the adjustment bureau. Some were enlightened and some were very rigid — they were like religions that answer to the same God but interpret the “word” differently. The movie seemed content to pass these guys off as fedora wearing angels. Why did they show us a politician and a talented dancer? Why not a school teacher and a plumber–destiny isn’t just for people that get their pictures in the paper. Bottom line — I was more interested in what the movie didn’t do than what it did.
Good acting, great theme, but no real soul = QQQ
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