Determinism and free will are two concepts that are complete opposites. Is your path through life already fixed or is it you who makes all the choices? These are the ideas that The Adjustment Bureau takes to build its story on. Matt Damon is politician David Norris, a very succesful and driven man who is about to make it big in politics and could even go as far as the White House. When he meets Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) his life changes when he finds out that there is no such thing as coincidence.
He finds out that there is a group called The Adjustment Bureau who make sure that everything happens according to “the big plan”. Any irregularities in this plan they need to solve by resetting memories. According to the big plan David Norris is not supposed to meet the woman again, but because Norris is so convinced of his love for her he is willing to risk it all to get the woman of his dreams.
The idea that a shadow world exists that makes sure that everything happens according to plan is a very original concept, but unfortunately the movie doesn’t have enough depth to it to allow yourself to get lost in everything that is happening. I was surprised how quickly Norris got help from one of the men working for the bureau (played by Anthony Mackie, who seems to be holding back a lot in his role). I also didn’t think the feelings Norris had for Elise were entirely convincing. I don’t think that this is because of the acting, but basically because too little time is spent on developing it. The movie has quite an interesting ending, but just misses the grandeur and threat you would expect from this type of story. The movie IS entertaining, but never stuns.
Score: 6
So glad you reviewed this, really interesting to read after your comments on the review on Ultimate Reviews. It seems a number of people feel the same way, that the the movie is entertaining, but never stuns.
My expectations of this were much higher, but the movie just didn’t manage to meet them.
As you know I recently saw this too, and my review very much echoes your one…
Although I could watch Emily Blunt dancing all day long, the film is just WEAK!!
I really thought the relationship worked (Damon and Blunt had great chemistry in my opinion) so on that level, I disagree but overall I am with you. It’s entertaining but ultimately little more than that. Thought the third act in particular had some huge problems, which undermined the stronger work in the setup and development stages.
It’s a shame, as it was an idea which could have resulted in a masterpiece…
Waiting for it to hit Netflix, 7 months after the official DVD release. I really want to see this but kind of skipped it when it was in theater.
I originally was planning to see it in the theater as well, but the night I would go to see it with a couple of friends it turned out that it played very late that evening, so we decided to see Hall Pass instead. So it took me a bit longer to see as well compared to what I originally planned.
Although I heard many good things about it, I’m not surprised that you gave it an average score. You said that this film lacks depth, but it’s not the thing that I mostly heard, so it’s an interesting point. Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing it. But there is so much of Matt Damon in movies, I’m kind of tired of him, haha
There’s no such thing as too much Matt Damon in movies 😉 It’s one of those actors I will watch, no matter which movie he’s in. They are usually quality movies.