The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau is a science fiction thriller built around a romance between characters that Matt Damon and Emily Blunt play. Although, I think it's a bit light on the thrills, it does portray an intriguing viewpoint on fate, free will and the involvement of the "powers that be". The story comes from a Phillip K. Dick's short story about "adjusters" who influence the outcomes of events from the shadows. Dick more famously is responsible for the story that the film, Minority Report, is based on.

The movie is set in New York City, so many are these days, but director George Nolfi manipulates the many intricacies that Manhattan has in an exceptional way that sort of makes the city backdrop a character all its own. Doors, which the adjusters use to travel, transport the audience from the MoMa to Yankee Stadium and on to the Statue of Liberty. Nolfi really does well for a first time director, but one of the few gripes I have with the film, is that he could've used a couple more scenes to establish the passionate feelings between Damon and Blunt's characters. A few of the scenes towards the end of the movie are reminiscent of the Bourne trilogy, which shouldn't be shocking because of Nolfi's involvement in both films.

Damon and Blunt, do certainly have an on screen chemistry that doesn't seem fake or forced, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them collaborate on another movie, but credit should be given to Nolfi's script and how it allowed the two stars to seem so comfortable with each other.

There are very solid supporting performances given by Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, and Terence Stamp. They all play case workers for the Adjustment Bureau, with Mackie portraying a more compassionate adjuster, Slattery is a smug, calculating adjuster, and Stamp's character is the most feared adjuster of them all, who is known as the Hammer.

The Adjustment Bureau, might not have fully lived up to all of the potential that it had, but it is still a good movie. It's entertaining, it has two very watchable stars, and it's a sci-fi movie that doesn't require the nerdiest of nerds to thoroughly enjoy. These elements should be enough reason to see it at the theaters over Battle: Los Angeles and Red Riding Hood.

The Next Three Days

Unfortunately, Russell Crowe's off screen issues may have deterred a lot of people from seeing this movie initially, I know that's what took me so long to see it. But, this is unfortunate because Paul Haggis's, The Next Three Days, is a surprisingly exceptionally well paced crime thriller that went completely unnoticed throughout the awards season. If Winter's Bone could secure a nomination for Best Picture, why not this movie?

Anyways, say what you will about Crowe and his performances and how they relate to this one, but I'm pretty convinced that anybody in the circumstances that his character, John Brennan, found himself in would've acted accordingly. It's unfair to be harsh on Crowe because his character's ability to adapt to the situations he finds himself in, draw close similarities to another character that Crowe played in some other film.

The shining performance of this film though is Paul Haggis. You should remember him as the screenwriter/director who "Crashed" the Oscars back in 2006. His ability at crafting a screenplay that unfolds with such complexity and drama that this film does is truly an amazing accomplishment. I found myself marveling at the way he connects little occurrences during the film, almost like how he did in, Crash.

I've been griping a lot over the Oscars for the last couple weeks, and I don't think this gripe isn't worthy of mention, that either Roman Polanski's Ghost Writer or Haggis' direction in this film deserved an Oscar nomination more than David O. Russell for the Fighter. The awards show has been criticized by many for being a political, popularity contest, but this year more than recent years it is certainly seems to be the case.