It’s rare when a film is able to blend together two different genres so well, especially when they are two genres that you don’t normally see together, in this case, science-fiction and romance. George Nolfi’s The Adjustment Bureau does just that, taking some difficult questions and posing them in a story involving a supposedly forbidden romance where one man will stop at nothing to prove his future is not yet written.
David Norris (Matt Damon) is a politician in the House of Representatives currently campaigning to be the next Senator from the state of New York. After a picture is released from his college days that destroys his chances of that happening, he decides to practice his concession speech in what he thinks is an empty men’s room. However, this is not entirely true as while he’s practicing, Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) comes strolling out of one of the stalls. It’s love at first sight as the two immediately hit it off, but they part ways when David’s assistant finds them.
Not long after this, he runs into her again on a bus where she gives him her number before parting again. When David arrives at his new job, he sees something that he was never supposed to see: Strange men in suits and fedoras “adjusting” his co-workers. David tries to run, but is caught by these strange men who explain to him that they are responsible for adjusting things so that they run according to a plan given to them by someone known only as “The Chairman.” According to this plan, David and Elise are not meant to be together, but, of course, David cannot accept this, and does everything he can to be with her, despite the many obstacles they put in his way.
Trailers for this film made it appear as though it was going to be a different spin on the film Dark City in which unknown beings were manipulating people at night, but once the film was over, I found that it reminded me more so of the underrated film Knowing because of the complex questions that it brought up. Both films are a kind of debate between fate and free will. In Knowing, the main character knows about some event that will be catastrophic and attempts to stop it, but is he able to or is it fated to happen?
In The Adjustment Bureau, The Chairman’s plan doesn’t involve David and Elise ending up together, but does that mean that their fates will never allow it to happen, or do they have the free will to change that? Some members of The Bureau he meets, Richardson (John Slattery) and Thompson (Terence Stamp), would have him believe that he is powerless to do anything about it, while another, Harry (Anthony Mackie), seems to think that it isn’t quite written in stone yet.
The film kind of sidesteps any big answers to these questions, but similarly to Knowing, I don’t think it’s meant to provide any concrete answers to them as it really all comes down to what you believe yourself. In a sense, the film argues both points. Some things are truly meant to be, while others can be changed due to free will. The film even slightly involves religion, saying that members of The Bureau have been referred to as angels and that The Chairman has been met by, and comes in a different form to, everyone, making him a God-like figure.
Looking past the deep subject matter for a minute, the film has other elements that make it work really well. Damon and Blunt have wonderful chemistry together that make their relationship really believable on screen. Damon is no stranger to playing a man in a desperate situation what with having done three films in the Bourne series. This is not typically the type of film you would find Emily Blunt in, but she holds her own right next to Damon through the romance and thrills.
That actually brings us back to another point. The Adjustment Bureau is somehow able to blend science-fiction and romance into one all-around entertaining film. It has been my experience that romances tend to bring a story down unless the writer can make it work really well within that story, like Nolfi did here.
What ends up making it work so well within this story is that it’s not the main focus. It’s certainly a part of it, but the main focus is on the subject matter which involves the question of whether or not these two characters can or will be together. Do they have a choice or is it all set before them on a path they can’t diverge from? These are just a couple of the interesting questions you get to ponder while being thrilled with some innovative chase sequences, while others will be intrigued by the plight of these two characters who long to be together, making The Adjustment Bureau a film in which most people will find something to enjoy. 3.5/4 stars.
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