How many times do I need to say not on the face?
There were so many things going for The Adjustment Bureau that I wracked my brains to work out why I just didn’t think much of it.
I finally decided upon a two word descriptor: creative mediocrity.
The leads Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are both likable and attractive, the cast solid and effective and the plot is clever but not so much that you lose track or interest. But as the credits rolled I thought that as an entertainment experience The Adjustment Bureau existed more than it thrived, and given that the film had some pretty direct similarities and parallels to the superior Source Code, Déjà vu and of course The Matrix this can’t be deemed a good thing.
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It turns out that the Powers that be have loosely scripted existence so that for the most part things run a certain way. Of course with any rough draft there are a million things that could happen to prevent Person A arriving at Destination B. An unexpected illness or accident. An inopportune red light. Locusts. A spilled cup of coffee…
So Destinations C, D, E etc are marked just in case. Call them contingency plans. As long as Person A arrives at one of these things will turn out the way they planned…
When this doesn’t happen they call upon a group of nattily dressed men wearing 40s era hats to perform the necessary adjustments, to make sure things remain on track.
David Norris (Matt Damon) is a maverick young political aspirant seemingly destined for bigger things yet hamstring by a checkered past involving one too many alcohol related follies, one of which cost him a vital election.
It is while he is preparing his concession speech that he runs into Elise (Emily Blunt) – in the men’s restroom no less – and the resulting impromptu meeting leaves quite an impression on them both. David is inspired enough to scrap his tailored speech and give a painfully honest and decidedly non-political version to his waiting crowd, the feedback from the ad-libbed concession is almost universally favourable and garners him more attention.
But all David can think about is meeting Elise again…
After another chance meeting is interrupted by an ‘accidental’ coffee spill, thus separating he and Elise once again. After which David meets with the strange well groomed men who have performed this unwelcome sci-fi cock-block, and he learns much to his horror that he and Elise are not destined to be together.
Not only must David refrain from seeing and pursuing this woman, and attempt to do so will result in ‘severe consequences’.
Now it doesn’t take a genius to gather that David won’t accept his fate gladly, and the hour or so that follows moves along at a nice pace without ever really blowing your skirt up. There is a lot of running, some breathless plot exposition, and a guy named Harry shows up as David’s ‘case officer’ to help move things along a couple of times.
I wanted to like The Adjustment Bureau. I really did. I even started typing this paragraph with the ‘I liked parts of…’, before realising I really didn’t. I took nothing away from this film aside from the fact that all the films I mentioned earlier in this review were far superior to it, and that there was a lot of running while holding hands.
And the fact that both Blunt and Damon are likable doesn’t change that I’m afraid.
Final Rating – 6 / 10. Maybe next time with a few adjustments this film might turn out better. Where are those guys with the nice hats when you need them?
