Review: The Adjustment Bureau

       Just because a movie is smart doesn't mean it is cool. This is obvious. We can see example of this in many of Woody Allen's films among plenty of others. However on the flip-side of that, and what isn't so obvious is just because a movie is cool, doesn't mean that it is smart. Usually, if a movie is cool, on some level there is some cleverness going on. The Adjustment Bureau is a film that is very cool but also very dumb. It's based on a Phillip K. Dick story, so I had high hopes for this movie, but once it started to explain itself, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. It's a basic story of freewill versus predetermination with a romance at its core which is all fine and dandy, in fact Endless Sunshine of the Spotless Mind did that same idea really well. However, once the movie gets started talking about higher powers and magic hats, it lost me.

       Matt Damon plays David Morris, a politician on a meteoric rise. He becomes elected to the House of Representatives as the youngest congressman ever. A few years later he runs for senate but loses after a picture is released of him mooning some college buddies. Before his concession speech he runs into Elise (Emily Blunt) and they hit it off. She inspires him to be himself and he gives a widely praised concession speech that makes him the frontrunner for the next election still years away. Meanwhile we are introduced to the Adjusters, a group of dapper men whose responsibility it is to make sure everything goes according to plan. Whose plan? The film pretty much says God, referring to Him only as “The Chairman.” The Adjusters change little things here and there to make sure everything works out as expected. One morning Morris is supposed to spill his coffee, causing him to go back to his apartment, change his shirt, miss the bus, and arrive at work 10 minutes late. But when a sleeping adjuster misses the moment to spill his coffee, Morris arrives on time and sees the Adjusters at work. They warn him that if he ever tells anyone they exist they'll wipe his brain and he'll appear to have gone crazy. They also tell him that he should never see Elise again, that they aren't meant to be together. But David and Elise love each other and they keep running into each other. The remainder of the movie is spent as the two of them run through New York City trying to avoid the Adjusters and stay together.

       

       While Damon and Blunt have undeniable chemistry on screen, the rest of this movie is unenjoyable. It makes no profound remarks on the debate between freewill and predetermination that you couldn't pick up in an elementary philosophy book. The effects of running through doors as portals to different parts of the city is cool, but saying that it's the Adjuster's fedoras that allow them to do this is absurd. The actors beside Damon and Blunt aren't given much to do and mostly spend the movie occupying space. The ending to the movie is also very dumb relying on a contrived deus ex machina to save the day when all appears to be lost. If you want to watch a good movie based on a Phillip K. Dick story, go watch Blade Runner again.