MOVIE REVIEW: The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

I hadn't originally planned on seeing The Adjustment Bureau, and the trailers, which made it seem like a poor rip-off of Damon's The Bourne Identity and The Matrix set my expectations low. But as I was watching it, I was somewhat surprised and slightly pleased by how the story actually defied the conventions and precedents established by it's own advertising campaign. What I got out of it, was a decent film that made a pretty serviceable adaptation of it's original source material.

Towards the end of the last decade, David Norris is a charismatic politician who is cooling his heels after abruptly losing the New York senate race. One night, he encounters a mysterious woman, Elise, whom he falls in love with, only to lose contact with her when a group of equally mysterious men known as "The Adjustment Bureau" reveal to him that they are in control of his and every human being's fated destiny on Earth, and that his own is not to be involved with Elise for the sake of losing any potential he has towards being contributory to humanity. Norris resists and a large-scale chase sets in between him and the team in a struggle over free will.

Adapting Dick's stories to film has often been a tricky task; especially when the works are short stories. The impression I get is that there's only so much plot to cover, you either fill in the blanks with artistic license or you pick a point in which to stop. Thankfully though, the screenwriters seemed relatively respectful towards this notion, so the pace and atmosphere of Adjustment Bureau are spot-on. It's a lot different than what many caper-film fans may be used to - there's only two scenes of violence, and most of the story is propelled by the romance angle. Could it have been more gripping? Probably. It's very good light entertainment at it's best. At my highest recommendation, it's something you can bring your significant other to and equally enjoy out of both genres it represents being relatively inobtrusive to one another.

7/10

Peace,
- Jon