DVD Reviews

The Adjustment Bureau – Blu-ray Review

By Dana Rae Jul 7, 2011, 13:37 GMT

Academy Award® nominee Matt Damon (The Bourne trilogy) stars in this action thriller about a man who glimpses the future Fate has planned for him – and chooses to fight for his own destiny. Battling the powerful Adjustment Bureau across under and through the streets of New York he risks his destined greatness to be with the only woman he\'s ever loved (Emily Blunt: The Young Victoria The Devil Wears ...more

The movie Adjustment Bureau comes to the Blu-ray format. It stars Matt Damon as David Norris, a senator that is up and coming in the world. Norris meets his true love, Elise, who is played by Emily Blunt, by happenstance one day in of all places, the men’s bathroom of a hotel. They joke and have a connection and then the movie jumps.

They meet again on a bus, and he manages to get her number but then his troubles start. He wasn’t supposed to meet her again, but fate intervened, and the ‘enforcers’ of fate make themselves known.

The enforcers, known as the Adjustment Bureau, are a secret group that uses doors in odd ways and weird electronic charts to keep track of people’s comings and goings and what the future holds.

They reveal themselves to Norris in a kidnapping sort of way and make demands of him that he won’t keep (don’t see her again) and other demands that he will try to keep (don’t ever tell anyone about us or we will reset you) and then throw him back into the office of his best friend using one of their odd doorways.

Sound crazy? This film does take some adjustment from its audience, but once you buy into it, this crazy sci-fi love story, it is a lot of fun.

I personally liked it. Perhaps because it is very clever…it seems to be a sci-fi action flick, but that is only a guise. It is actually a love story. Think sci-fi chick flick with a spiritual connection.

The movie is loosely based on a Philip K. Dick short story called The Adjustment Team, and I say loosely, because I don’t think Philip K. Dick ever wrote a love story. The idea of the adjustment bureau is about all that this movie has in common with the original story - the idea that there is a watch force out there unbeknownst to the general population and that they control our destinies. It is the old idea of fate versus free will. Are we in control of our own destinies?

The movie has some surprisingly astute and thought provoking ideas that are thrown at you. The hats, for one, are never explained, and the adjustment bureau itself is never fully explained. In one comment, one of the men of bureau says that some have perceived them as angels.

The film can almost be seen as a comedy, as John Slattery (Mad Men), who plays Richardson, brings charm and some very funny moments to his role in the bureau. He doggedly chases Norris through the streets of New York and through many doors, but it does it without malicious or malevolent intent.

His goal is just simply to keep Elise and David apart. Why does it matter? That is never clear, either, but it is hinted at that Norris will do great things if he doesn’t pursue his relationship with Elise – even to the point that he will become president. If he does continue to see her, even marry her, it will harm both of them by holding them back from their full potential (Elise is a dancer about to embark on a satisfying artful career).

The movie is lots of fun, and unlike what is usually associated with Philip K. Dick, light and humorous. It’s not a downer. In fact, it is rather uplifting and will have you thinking about the meaning of life and fate. It’s a love story cleverly wrapped in a sci-fi package with humorous moments thanks to Slattery. The acting is solid and Damon and Blunt are believable as a misguided couple in love.

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