The Adjustment Bureau (2011): Free Will Hunting

Ever had someone suggest to you that the twists and turns of their life, such as stumbling into their career or suffering a serious injury or winning the lottery, were “meant to be”? Or perhaps you feel that way yourself, that events in your life were fated to happen, that like Luke Skywalker, you have a destiny? If you are a believer, of course, you may feel that God is in charge, that whatever happens is God’s will. Well, that’s the essential premise of The Adjustment Bureau. Our lives are guided by a divine Plan, and just in case we are tempted to deviate from that well laid Plan, minions of the higher authority, called The Chairman in this flick, will intercede and make whatever “adjustments” are necessary to put your life back on its intended course. Nothing personal, it’s just business.

But what about free will? That’s not just a delusion, is it? What if, for once in your life, you meet your one true love, and you know you just have to be together. Even if that’s not in the Plan, we can change that, right? David Norris (Matt Damon), the protagonist of this tale, based on a Phillip K. Dick story (naturally), certainly thinks so. Norris is a young, handsome, charismatic, up-and-coming politician from Brooklyn destined, it seems, for great things. As the film opens, he is about to lose his bid for New York’s U.S . Senate seat, but this may just be a character building setback. He’s tough, he can fight back.

Then he accidentally meets the quirkily charming and attractive Elise (Emily Blunt), and suddenly none of that matters. Everything is different. There’s an instant connection. He feels it. She feels it. We feel it. Indeed, the chemistry between these two is magical, something rarer in film than in life, I think. Many movies strive to recreate such moments for us, but not many succeed. I don’t know whether to credit the director, George Nolfi, or Damon and Blunt (probably all three), but they deserve our thanks. The relationship between David and Elise is at the core of the Adjustment Bureau, and it is what saves this from being just another ok thriller.

Because these two are not meant to be together – it’s not part of the Plan at all. And the agents of the Bureau do everything in their considerable powers to keep them apart. These agents are drab but persistent men in black, all of whom wear hats for some reason. At one point they decide to break protocol and explain the facts of life to David (and us), warning him that pursuing this relationship in opposition to the Chairman’s plan will destroy his entire career, and Elise’s too, and besides it just can’t be done. Ultimately, David rebels anyway - he has to be with this woman come what may. What follows starts out as a cat and mouse game between the hats and Matt, and ends up in a wild, suspenseful chase through New York, aided by some clever sci-fi gimmickry
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The photography evokes a gritty, rainy, iconic, believable New York City: docks, skyscrapers, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Liberty Island - courtesy of veteran cinematographer John Toll (Gone Baby Gone, Braveheart, The Last Emperor, It’s Complicated, etc). Nolfi moves the story along at just the right pace, although this is his first stint in the director’s chair. He must have a nice rapport with Damon, having previously worked with him as writer of Ocean’s Twelve and The Bourne Ultimatum. Unfortunately, his screenplay is the weakness of this film. Ultimately the story, while posing interesting questions, is silly and full of holes.

But the love story and the attractive lead players hold it together and make this an entertaining and interesting, if not great, film.

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