Every once and a while, what draws me to a movie more than the actors, the director, or the plot is the concept. If a movie is based on a cool idea that I think could make a good film, I go see it. Most recently this happened with “Vantage Point.” The movie was about the same event from different points of view. It was awful. I did not like it and only two of the different vantage points were actually interesting. Now there is “The Adjustment Bureau.” Cool concept, but will the movie live up to it?
David Norris (Matt Damon) is an up and coming New York senator. A chance meeting with Elise (Emily Blunt) changes his life forever. He was only supposed to meet her once, but he becomes determined to find her again. Members of a mysterious group called The Adjustment Bureau know Norris’ path and Elise is not on it. They set out to get him back on his path.
The problem I have with the movie is that it never rises above the concept. What I mean by that is that the movie relies on the concept of “fate” too much. It uses the Adjustment Bureau as the only way to advance the story. Which is a shame because Damon and Blunt are actually pretty good actors. They do a fine job here, so I cannot blame them for the failure of the movie. The cool concept becomes what the story is about and not the relationship between the two main characters.
There are some highly religious overtones in the movie. They never mention any deity, but the Bureau is a “higher power” and there is a lot of talk of free will versus divine intervention. We never see who runs the Adjustment Bureau, though he is referred to several times.
There is a lot of wasted potential here. The concept is relied heavily upon to drive the story and is not developed enough to hold up over the movie’s runtime. There are some interesting things with the hats they ware and how they get around, but it really leads nowhere and the story suffers.
5 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexuality and a violent image.
106 min
