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.