‘The Adjustment Bureau’ Review: Getting Your Life Back On Track

Philip K. Dick wrote the science fiction story Adjustment Team in 1954. It follows the life of Ed Fletcher, a real estate agent who has his life adjusted so that it complies with the plans of a greater entity. Dick meant the story to be a critique of predetermination and free will. The Adjustment Bureau, however, is a feel good romantic sci-fi.

Since most screen adaptations of Dick’s stories (Blade Runner, Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly, to name a few) have stuck pretty close to the source material and involve little sentiment, this approach is pretty surprising. That’s not to say The Adjustment Bureau is bogged down by the romance between the two characters – in fact, this reinvention of the original short story is an interesting breath of fresh air into the often dark and twisted world of Philip K. Dick.

David Norris (Matt Damon) is a charismatic young senatorial candidate. On the eve of his defeat, he has a meet-cute collision with Elise (Emily Blunt), a spirited ballet dancer. The two share a heated kiss and sparks immediately begin to fly. David’s encounter with Elise inspires him to deliver a successful speech that helps set him up for his next run for office. Months later, with Elise still on his mind, David runs into her on a bus and their burgeoning relationship blossoms further. This second encounter starts the ball rolling. It is revealed to David that supernatural “adjusters,” snazzily dressed men who wear suits and hats with protective powers, have been watching him, nudging his life along so that it conforms their predetermined “plan,”  a plan that Elise is not a part of. They threaten him with a mind wipe if he reveals the existence of the “adjusters” and continues to pursue Elise. What ensues is David’s struggle against “The Adjustment Bureau” as he fights to be with Elise.

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt fight their destinies in The Adjustment Bureau | Poster courtesy of Universal Pictures

The acting is solid on the parts of the two leads. Matt Damon is as solid as ever, charming both Elise and the audience. His determination is felt, and Damon does a great job at getting us to root for him. His face, steely and resolved whether he is running for governor or running after Elise, is reinforced with a palpable sense of resolution and willpower. It is easy to believe that he will do anything for Elise. As he says,“I don’t care what you put in my way, you can’t stop me.” Emily Blunt is equally charming, free spirited and aloof but never flaky. She is smitten with David, and the pair shares an easy and laid-back chemistry that makes their union believable. It is not the usual out of control passion that romantic comedies present as real love, but rather a more controlled relationship that unfolds slowly and develops from attraction to adoration over the course of the whole movie.

Romance, however, is not the only theme of the movie. The major conflict depends on the idea of free will. Thompson (Terence Stamp), the senior adjuster who is nicknamed “The Hammer” explains that they tried stepping back to let humans carry out their freewill but says in a sinister monotone “You gave us the Dark Ages for five centuries.” A second chance at independence resulted in the two World Wars, the Holocaust and the Cuban Missile Crisis.  For a moment, director George Nolfi (screenwriter for The Bourne Ultimatum and Ocean’s Twelve) touches upon real cinematic depth, but that is the extent of it. Dick’s short story provides a source for a great deal of examination into the philosophical ideas of pre-determinism, but his ideas are not fully developed. Instead, they are treated as a side dish to the main course of David and Elise’s romance.

This is where the film falls short. After a suspenseful build up in the first two acts, the film loses steam. The adjusters,  after giving David a hard time, surrender too easily at the end. What could have been a great struggle for the two leads between each other and the adjusters is resolved much too early. It felt like the director ran out of ideas and decided to stick with the most predictable and boring way to end the movie. It could have been daring and shocking, but instead he decides to choose a vague and dissatisfying ending over one that resonates with the bigger themes it touches upon in the earlier half of the film. This is the one big disappointment in a film with so much promise.

Despite that, The Adjustment Bureau is a sleek, stylish and entertaining thriller. The film echoes Dark City and The Matrix. The cinematography is clean and sparse. Since it’s Matt Damon, it’s also a little Bourne-esque, with a visually outstanding scene where David runs through the rain soaked streets of Manhattan trying to remain undetected. There is little action and no big car chases, but it doesn’t need those things to make it fast-paced and captivating.

Ultimately, The Adjustment Bureau goes from a wonderfully paranoid dystopic tale to one that ends in hope and optimism – and that shift weakens the whole film. Nonetheless, it is an engrossing and entertaining film that is a different, but not unwelcome, addition to the other Philip K. Dick film adaptations.

A film that leaves us wanting more, The Adjustment Bureau ultimately falls flat. However, it is still an engrossing and entertaining film that will please fans of both science-fiction and romance: A-

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