A Reel Review: THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU

Matt Damon has been very selective over his films in his career; carefully aligning himself with filmmakers such as Scorsese, Soderbergh, and Eastwood. His preference to handpick projects, along with his very good acting chops, has enabled him to make very good movies; for even the ones that aren’t that good still don’t manage to stink up the place. In THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU, Damon hooks up with first-time director George Nolfi in a mish-mash tale of love and destiny that becomes a stone cathedral built upon a foundation of toothpicks.

David Norris (Damon) is a NY Congressman running for senator who has a tendency to get into bar fights. On the eve of losing an election, he encounters Elise (Emily Blunt), a charming woman who inspires him to be a more genuine person. The two fall for each other, but are then separated for years courtesy of the mysterious “adjustment bureau”; a collection of guys in suits and fedoras who are revealed to be controlling the destinies of the world. David chooses to defy his pre-determined destiny and chart his own course in pursuit of Elise's love.

With the destinies of mankind in the physical hands of others, BUREAU is a high-concept story brought down to earth with a classic man-versus-monster- driven- by- love tale. The pairing works, as David chooses to chart his own path in defiance of the monster. Things get really interesting when the Bureau reveals to David that Elise’s pre-determined course is better off without him; placing David in a choice between his own political dreams and a life with his true love.

Where things get shaky is the acceptance of the Bureau and their operations. The film is made up of a world that lives by its own rules; rules that don’t hold up to real-world logic, or even worse, movie-logic. Suspension of disbelief only lasts so long, as the Bureau bends the laws of physics with very little explanation towards the why or the how. Good science-fiction is always supported by good science, and the latter is consistently absent throughout. There can be success in maintaning an air of mystery about your villians, but it still needs to hold water.

Also frustrating is the half-hearted attempts to inject intelligence into the mix by occasionally stopping to debate whether or not mankind is-or-should-be in charge of their own destinies. The debates are sporadically inserted between chase-scenes as David goes from one predicament to the next in his pursuit of Elise. It’s only the enthusiasm brought forward by Damon’s acting, along with Emily Blunt’s charm, that manages to keep the film interesting.

The finale arrives with a huge buildup only to pay off with a “poof, everything’s fine now”; the film just collapses under its own weight. There are a few glimmers of great ideas in BUREAU: the notions of whether or not man is charge of his destiny, and if it is worth being with somebody if you knew you would ruin their life. But the film doesn’t stick with that for very long; choosing to change the rules every five seconds and making our heroes run around the city in a DIE HARD fashion. Damon has made one of those films that is not terrible to watch, but not great either. It's too bad the film's ambition doesn't match that of it's actors.

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it.