Movie Review - The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Starring Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, and John Slattery

Directed by George Nolfi

I've never had any real "connection" to The Twilight Zone.  I didn't watch it in repeats as a kid and, frankly, I've probably only ever seen five episodes at most.  Still, I'm kind of fascinated by the premise and the execution of those said episodes.  The Adjustment Bureau (much like 2009's The Box) certainly has that Twilight Zone-retro feel.  However, despite some decent turns from Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, the whole affair fell amazingly flat and left me clamoring for a better story to go along with the surprisingly effective romance between the two leads.

David Norris (Damon) is running for senator of New York City.  As one of the youngest-ever candidates, he's got the buzz, but unfortunately, he doesn't necessarily garner the respect of the general public and he finds himself losing the election.  While preparing his concession speech in what he believes to be an empty men's room, he meets Elise (Blunt), a free-spirited gal who crashed a wedding at the locale and is hiding out from security.  Nearly immediately, there's a connection between the David and Elise, but they're quickly pulled apart without either being able to give each other their contact information.  

Cut to a couple of months later and, by chance, David meets Elise on a bus as he travels to his new job.  The connection is still there between them and this time the duo exchange numbers.  However, immediately after the meeting, David arrives at his office and stumbles upon a group of mysterious men who work for the equally mysterious Adjustment Bureau which David soon discovers attempt to control nearly every major event that occurs in the world.  Leaving nothing up to Fate or Chance, the hat-wearing members of the Bureau state that David and Elise are not supposed to be together.  While the group attempts to pull the two lovers apart, David desperately tries to stay with the woman he knows he's meant to spend his life with.

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt admirably try to make this film work and the scenes depicting their budding romance are the best part of the movie and a breath of fresh air.  However, any scene dealing with the men of the Adjustment Bureau (including the incredibly wooden acting of Anthony Mackie and John Slattery) is a failure.  The constant exposition in these moments in which the screenwriter (George Nolfi, who is also the director) feels the need to explain everything -- and do so multiple times -- is simply painful.  The repetitive nature makes the film endlessly drag in the middle hour, and while it seemed to be heading towards an edge-of-your-seat ending, the promise of excitement is never delivered.

Two disparate storylines -- one of which works and one which doesn't -- are the downfall of The Adjustment Bureau.  The palpable chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt is charming, but the retro science fiction aspect of the titular group responsible for controlling the lives of everyone is nothing less than an epic failure.

The RyMickey Rating:  D