The Adjustment Bureau

Built upon a nifty concept that suggests mysterious men dressed in dapper suits are responsible for ensuring that everyone's life goes according to plan, The Adjustment Bureau is yet another attempt to spin cinematic gold from the prose of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. Adaptations of Dick's short stories and books have resulted in some brilliant efforts (Blade Runner and Total Recall, both based on stories with wildly different titles, are grand movies) and some terrible ones (does anyone even want to remember Next, Impostor, or Paycheck?). So as the latest Dick adaptation, The Adjustment Bureau enters hazy territory, even though its top-notch cast that includes Matt Damon and the enchanting Emily Blunt seems to hint that maybe this will be one of the good efforts. Well, not if writer-director George Nolfi has any say in it!

Taking the neat conceit and stretching it, along with Dick's very short story, into a feature-length movie is a massive challenge at the best of times, but Nolfi's main plan for the adaptation is to widen every possible plot hole to the point of parody. Even Dick's story has a gaping chasm at its core, but it's easier to swallow the concept-minded approach when it's delivered in small bites. Nolfi's movie version is one big chunk of bland nonsense that keeps highlighting the ridiculousness of the story, only to attempt to sweep the growing mess under an invisible carpet. The concept is a fine point of inspiration, but what follows is so difficult to take seriously and so easy to laugh at that it makes the desperately dramatic story feel like a joke.

The movie version of the story focuses on Congressman David Norris (Damon), who is on the verge of being elected to the Senate. Following our introduction to the protagonist, Nolfi goes to great lengths to establish David's political personality in the real world. We seem him being interviewed by Jon Stewart, gracing the cover of GQ, and being discussed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN. It's almost a nice touch at first, since grounding a character in what we can recognize as the real world is a sharp way to juxtapose our reality against the fantastical territory we are about to discover. Then, while still in a state of normalcy, David's hopes of becoming a Senator take a dive after an incriminating (only in political terms, of course) photo emerges.

David is in a tough spot, but things start to look up when he meets a charming young woman named Elise (Blunt). The pair hit it off immediately, although according to the mysterious men in dapper suits, this potential relationship is not meant to be and so any further meetings are out of the question. Failure to comply with the wishes of the Adjustment team (aka men in dapper suits) will result in a whole lot of running through doors that lead to seemingly random places and plenty of stern warnings about destiny and how free will is for sissies. Of course, this all sounds a bit ridiculous to David, so in a shocking twist, he fails to comply. This gives Nolfi the opportunity to stage some action-y sequences, but it also opens the metaphorical doors to a whole collection of preposterous silliness.

The problems really begin with the Adjustment team members themselves. Charismatic actors John Slattery and Anthony Mackie are fun to watch in their suits, but the characters are ridiculous. Considering these guys quite literally protect the fate of the world's citizens, it's a bit disconcerting that they completely suck at their job. They treat the situation with David as a truly dangerous occurrence, as they should, but they're awful when it comes to containing their target and they're even significantly out of the loop when it comes to crucial information. Additionally, the mistake that triggers the whole mess with David is so innocent and simple that it seems like it would lead to problems every month or so. But the Adjustment team still insists on handling the situation in a boneheaded manner that suggests a lack of experience in this realm.

Before Nolfi ever takes control of the science fiction elements in the story, The Adjustment Bureau is already well out of hand. David keeps running around and the Adjustment team keeps showing up to remind him how destructively terrible people are when it comes to making decisions. Their arguments for why David should be a good pawn and turn his back on Elise are pretty funny, entertaining morsels of moral-minded philosophy, but they achieve the humour through stupidity and they're meant to be profound and meaningful, so that's a bust. David believes in making his own fate and we're supposed to agree with him (doesn't seem too difficult), although Nolfi has no intentions to let the conflict resolve itself until he's dug a few more plot holes and solidified a guarantee that the movie is going to play dumb all the way to the end.

With such a brittle concept to play with, Nolfi is facing an uphill battle many times along the way. By expanding the narrative canvas, the mystery of the concept ends up a slave to endless explanation, which wouldn't necessarily be a problem if the explanation made any sense or was at all insightful. The feature-length format also allows Nolfi to explore the abilities and limitations of the Adjustment team, which results in some very lazy writing. Pretty much whenever and wherever Nolfi attempts to build upon the concept provided by Dick's imagination, the movie runs into major trouble.

However, when Nolfi lets the movie briefly settle into the love story, things run relatively smoothly. Blunt is an absolute delight to watch and Damon is his usual charming self. The two of them together share some decent chemistry and it's easy to accept that these characters are interested in each other and that sparks are destined to fly (take that, you pesky Adjustment team!). The problem is that Nolfi wants the love story to be a means to an end and he can't stop himself from embarrassing the sci-fi elements of the narrative. The Adjustment Bureau is a laughably inane movie starring a cast that deserves better (I never even mentioned that the great Terrance Stamp shows up in a role, as well). There's some potential here somewhere, but Nolfi has dug enough plot holes to ensure that all the potential ends up at the bottom of some pointless pit. The ultimate message of the movie (there are sort of a few, but one is meant to tower above the others) is that true love is worth risking everything for and I'm obliged to agree, but when the obstacles in love's way are this silly, well, why bother to care?