The Adjustment Bureau – Review

There isn’t a mathematical equation to figure out the odds of a chance encounter. It’s one of those accidental elements in nature. Most people believe their lives are either decided upon based your own Free Will or that God has a plan for us. But what if they’re one in the same? The Adjustment Bureau is based on a Philip K. Dick short story, which might be one of his more underrated exercises in his continuously explored themes of authoritarian governments, perception, theology, and identity. It’s a paranoid sci-fi thriller, that while Blade Runner is the definitive film adaptation of Philip K. Dick, The Adjustment Bureau is a mesmerizing close second.

I pity people who find love in the typical fashions: a set-up, Internet dating sites, a family recommendation. The chance encounter is one of those anomalies in life that are so unexplainable, so rare, it’s worth living a lifetime to have it just once. You stay late at work one day, or pick up a shift begrudgingly, or take a different route home, these little sparks of compulsive decisions could lead you right into that special someone. But what if your decision making went against your life’s plan? How far will you willingly buck the course predetermined to you? The Adjustment Bureau is a riveting expose of the preciousness of Free Will and the notion that humans are meant for something better.

Surprisingly enough, the film is written and directed by George Nolfi, making his debut. We’ve seen other Philip K. Dick adaptations fail to successfully balance his complex themes in an entertaining way for a movie, but Nolfi wisely allows the actors to carry the sci-fi parable. Matt Damon is the perfect everyman. Emily Blunt is a classic beauty. Combined, they’re the stars of a Hollywood long gone. Picture Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest. This is a Hitchcock type of movie.

But it’s the human element that boosts The Adjustment Bureau from a good movie to a great movie. No matter how wild the premise is, this “pulling the curtain back on Oz”, The Adjustment Bureau has a heart that beats a tune we know all so well. It’s the power of love, as Huey Lewis was a wise man. If we are just puppets dancing for a greater puppeteer, how do we willingly accept their knowing what’s best for us? The Adjustment Bureau is a rarity in sci-fi: it avoids spectacle for thought-provoking chance at showing us what it means to be human.

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