First of all, this is not Inception. Whether you take that as a good thing or bad, it's true. But that definitely doesn't mean it's a bad film, in fact The Adjustment Bureau digs deep into the subject of destiny just like Inception digs deep into dreams. But does it dig deep enough?
The story follows David Norris (Matt Damon), a popular politician who is running for senator. He's at the head of the election race until some college photos of himself pulling pranks are leaked and damage his chances of winning badly. On the election night, it's already pretty clear that David's chances of winning are none. So while practicing his (Loosing) speech in the men's bathroom, he meets a girl named Elise who is hiding from security after crashing a wedding.
After a quick chat with her, they instantly click. Elise give David a few pointers that causes him to forget his pre-written speech, and make up a much more real and relatable one on the spot. And sure enough, it works, and David gains his respect back. So the next day we meet Harry, who is a member of the Bureau and is assigned to David's "Path". After falling asleep on the job, Harry accidentally lets David take a bus that he wasn't supposed to take on which Elise is on. After flirting with Elise and getting her number, Dave heads to his office.
But when he arrives the Bureau is working on Charlie (Running experiments and stuff like that) and David is completely freaked out. So, the Bureau kidnaps him to make sure he doesn't go out and tell everyone what he has seen. They burn Elise's number and force him to never see Elise again. But David truly is in love with her and is determined to fight his own destiny to be with the girl of his dreams.
The movie did include one of my top pet peeves in films, and that's skipping ahead through time. I mean you feel like you've missed so much that's gone on with the characters that you barely know them anymore. And does Nolfi actually want us to believe that David rides the same bus over and over again for three years just so he can run into to Elise? Not to mention that he just lives perfectly fine for three years knowing men with hats are watching him.
Now that I've gotten that off chest, lets get to the pros and cons. I loved John Slattery (Mad Men) and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) in their respective roles as Bureau agents Richardson and Harry. Terence Stamp was surprisingly a bit dull and mono-toned in his role as Thompson, but it really isn't a large problem considering the fact his character didn't have much personality to begin with. But really they make the Bureau seem believable and come across as the "Bad guy" who are actually trying to help like they're supposed to be.
But what really brought the movie together was the acting. Blunt and Damon actually had believable chemistry on screen, and brought excellent performances (Mostly Damon). For once Damon actually played a relatable character, rather than a secret agent like Jason Bourne. And I thought David's reaction to the existence of the Bureau was very realistic. Now the ending might get people debating. it's basically one of those little predictable endings. It really didn't hold anything shocking or spine-tingling. But it is wrapped up very nicely with a speech about free will and destiny, that really does make the movie end on a disappointed note at all.
The story is great, but it's no nearly as complex and fascinating as a movie like Inception, but it works. It all really worked together near perfectly. The Adjustment Bureau is a very interesting film that I'll say is a must see for Inception and sci-fi fans, but I just can't speak on behalf of the average movie goers. It's no Inception, but it's still brilliant.
I give The Adjustment Bureau 4 out of 5 stars:
And here's the trailer for the Adjustment Bureau:
What did you think of The Adjustment Bureau? Are you going to see it?
