Grade: B
Director: George Nolfi (writer of The Bourne Ultimatum, directorial debut)
Writer: George Nolfi, based on the short story “Adjustment Team” by Philip K. Dick
Starring: Matt Damon as David Norris, Emily Blunt as Elise Sallas, Anthony Mackie as Harry Mitchell and John Slattery as Richardson
“All I know is, people will do anything to survive. I want to live and I don’t care how.” – Lincoln Six-Echo (Ewan McGregor) from The Island
A few weeks ago, I watched Michael Bay’s The Island. Rotten Tomatoes gives it 40%, which is not bad considering it’s Michael Bay. It’s my favorite Michael Bay film, but that’s not saying a whole lot.
But it was an interesting reminder of a movie I had watched earlier in the day. This film was The Adjustment Bureau, also a film about people trying to survive something that controls their every aspect of life. Fortunately for me, Michael Bay’s film once again paled in comparison to a similar movie.
David Norris (Damon) is a rising New York politician whose partying past prevents him from winning an election. While recovering from the loss in a bathroom, he meets Elise (Blunt), a ballet dancer who inspires him to give the best speech of his career. A few days later, Norris runs into Elise on a bus, falling in love with her like he did in the bathroom. He can’t stop thinking about her until he finds out that a group known as The Adjustment Bureau is trying to prevent them from being together because they have big plans for David. But Norris is determined to be with Elise at any cost.
Blunt and Damon shine as the best part of this film. The last romance film (which is what The Adjustment Bureau is) with a chemistry near this level that I’ve seen is (500) Days of Summer with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. Their scenes together are the best of the film; Damon’s charm works well with Blunt’s accented kidding, creating in the audience a sense of inevitable destiny that Norris himself feels.
Matt Damon and George Nolfi have worked together before, in a smaller context. Nolfi wrote the screenplays for Damon’s films Ocean’s Twelve and The Bourne Ultimatum. One can definitely see bits of each in this film. The banter between the leads Damon and Blunt is similar to that of Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Twelve and the fast-paced action reminded me of Bourne.
Thomas Newman’s score is an eclectic one, while the supporting cast is probably the best I’ve seen this year so far. Anthony Mackie, Terence Stamp and John Slattery shine as members of the film’s titular Adjustment Bureau. Mackie, who won my Best Actor in a Supporting Role award in 2010 for his performance in The Hurt Locker, especially steps out as the person specifically assigned to Norris.
But really, The Adjustment Bureau is a look at fate and if there really is a “Chairman” watching us and controlling every move we make so things go “according to plan.” While the film never really tries to force an answer on us, it sure makes you think, and does so well enough. There aren’t any particularly fantastic elements about the film other than Blunt and Damon’s chemistry, but it’s better than your average early March thriller.
