'The Adjustment Bureau' - Free Will Dukes it Out with Destiny

Are our lives and the actions we make the result of free will or predestination? That's the question that plagues us all, and one I keep coming back to. Just when I think the answer is clear, something else comes along to screw with my head. I want to believe that free will is infinitely more dominant than predestination, but if my life is part of some big plan, then shouldn't I be doing better than where I am at right now? Am I predestined to be a schmuck? I'm sure people will comment on this review and say I already am a schmuck, but they're probably wondering if they are schmucks themselves (a little hint, they are).



Free will and predestination are at the heart of "The Adjustment Bureau," the latest adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story. This man's works have inspired great movies like "Blade Runner" and "Total Recall" as well as "Paycheck," which like "Broken Arrow" was John Woo-lite at its most painful. It stars Matt Damon as David Norris, a New York congressman who as the movie opens has lost the election for a seat on the United States Senate. You could say that he pulled an Anthony Weiner when pictures arise of him showing a significant part of his body. This of course became far more interesting for people to talk about instead eliminating unemployment.



While practicing his concession speech in the men's room, David finds a woman named Elise hiding in one of the stalls. She confesses that she just crashed a wedding (damn you Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn!) and tells him he should be honest in accepting defeat. They end up sharing one hell of a passionate kiss before he goes onstage to give one of the more thankfully honest speeches ever uttered by a politician. But his encounter with her and ends up rankling the bureau of the movie's title, and they do everything in their power to keep these two apart.



The Adjustment Bureau consists mostly of middle aged men dressed in nice suits and a hat that allows them to teleport from one place to the next. This way, they can keep a person's actions in check while beating the rush hour traffic and saving gas. They all look like they came off the set of "Mad Men" which is ironic because one of the movie's stars is John Slattery.



For David, they have a plan to guide his life to one of political prominence. The meeting with Elise was indeed part of the plan when she bumped into him, but they were apparently never supposed to meet up again. David however rebels against this notion and is determined to be with Elise regardless of the circumstances. But in pursuing her, he risks not just his future but hers as well.



The concept behind "The Adjustment Bureau" is ingenious because we want free will to win out, but the threat of predestination hovers over all the actions these characters make. It makes you wonder if there is a way to beat destiny, and that's even if your destiny has great accomplishments and wealth in store for you. Chance encounters act as a break in the plan, and it comes to where David Norris lives for them. Then again, came you blame him when those encounters involve Emily Blunt?



Matt Damon is as always a terrific actor, and he brings this particular congressman down to earth. This is not your usual bombastic politician hungry for power and more than willing to abuse it. David Norris is a regular guy who went from being a bad boy who saw much of juvenile detention to one of the most popular congressmen ever elected. Matt makes him an elected official who seems genuine in fulfilling his promises, and that's saying a lot considering how incredibly cynical we are about politics in America today.



Emily Blunt is a very appealing presence here, and I'm not sure I've seen her in anything else up to this point. Her character of Elise is pleasant and has a free spirit about her that makes her all the more attractive. The chemistry she has with Matt Damon is strong, and you want to see theses be together. Throughout "The Adjustment Bureau," Emily proves to be many things and is not always blunt about it.



This movie marks the directorial debut of George Nolfi, one of several screenwriters behind "The Bourne Ultimatum." He does good work keeping the suspense up and directing the cast to very naturalistic performances. George also wrote the script for this, and I love how well he conceives the conversations between Matt and Emily. The concession speech Matt Damon gives is the kind I am desperate from any politician regardless of party affiliation. Plus, the conversations he has Emily are great and never close to groan inducing. I still can't seem to get over the eye rolling dialogue from those "Star Wars" prequels between Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen. Unlike that other George though, Nolfi showers great dialogue over the cast he works with here.



The ending to "The Adjustment Bureau" does feel a little hokey as things get resolved in a much too tidy fashion. I imagine people will view it in different ways and already have in mind the kind of ending they would prefer to see. The way the movie is constructed, it could have ended in various ways. Then again, that's what makes "The Adjustment Bureau" particularly exciting; we are never sure if or how these two will end up together, assuming they are meant to be together at all.



After stumbling through movies like "Paycheck," it's nice to see a filmmaker do right by Philip K. Dick whose stories are infinitely fascinating in the concepts they explore. It may not be on a par with "Blade Runner," but most films aren't anyway. "The Adjustment Bureau" makes very entertaining use of the debate over whether predestination or free will defines who we are. Of course, people may still be wondering about that once the end credits have finished (frustrating, isn't it?).



* * * ½ out of * * * *