The Adjustment Bureau Reviews

What if all those odd coincidences in life weren't by chance but were the result of the machinations of a secretive shadowy organisation that is manipulating human destiny? This is the intriguing premise of The Adjustment Bureau, a science fiction / romance film based on a short story by Philip K Dick.

This is definitely a movie for those who believe in love at first sight as politician David Norris, played by Matt Damon, is absolutely besotted with Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) from their very first meeting. Damon gives a finely crafted performance which channels the oratory skills of John F Kennedy and the charisma of Bill Clinton. Blunt was quite charming which meant that you could believe that Norris would fall for Emily, though the speed at which this occurs was unrealistic and the script would have benefitted from some additional scenes showing how their relationship developed.

Naturally this being a thriller the path to true love is not smooth and the couple soon find their lives disrupted by the mysterious men of the Bureau, a collective of men in suits. It seems that a love affair would be detrimental to the development of Norris's political career so must be ended. Whilst it is an interesting notion that those with successful careers are loveless the film does not explore the concept in any depth at all, unfortunately.

There are indeed some interesting philosophical issues raised by the story such as whether there is free will or predestination, should we prioritise career or personal life, are there unseen aspects of reality which we are unable to perceive, but it soon becomes obvious that this isn't a movie which wants to ponder over any of these issues, preferring to indulge in many chase scenes which soon become monotonous. The narrative was somewhat plodding and culminates in an unsatisfying deus ex machina which didn't really make much sense in light of previous events.

There were also some really clunky scenes which made the movie rather unbelievable. In the scene where Norris improvised his speech, revealing the artifice of his public presentation, none of his team were unhappy with this turn of events which was just weird. No-one bats an eyelid at someone ordering water in a bar (perhaps this is an alternative reality where prohibition never ended). Worst of all was when a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and flew through the air, yet said was he ok! You would have thought that someone would have called for an ambulance or something, though this being the USA they might have checked his bank balance first.

This was a movie that didn't really do anything that hasn't been seen before with elements reminiscent of various other science fiction films such as Dark City, Minority Report and The Matrix. It was nice to look at with good use made of the New York setting, if not particularly innovative. The score was somewhat intrusive, serving to overwhelm the action rather than underpin it.

Overall this was moderately entertaining, but the combination of romance and science fiction resulted in a work which was not truly satisfying in either genre, as each only received a superficial treatment. The cast made for a passable way to spend your time but the film did not fulfil its potential.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Matt Damon, I thought I should give it a try. Basically, it is a half-baked SF feature with a few interesting ideas here and there. Once again, they tried to tackle the whole predetermined thingy, the fake/parallel worlds and what not. Even though it is an interesting thematic, it is something tremendously difficult to make stick and only a handful of movies like 'Dark City' or 'Inception' did succeed (yeah, I'm still defending 'Inception' even though it is slowly becoming the most overrated flick ever made). Hell, even a so-called classic like 'The Matrix' didn't manage to make it right. The point is that, if you create such a world, not only you end up with some massive plot-holes but most of the plot becomes pointless or rather nonsensical. For example, it was difficult to care about the whole political plot since you know that it is not what the movie is actually about and you wonder how the main character keeps moving on in his life knowing that the world, his life and the life of others is not what it seems to be. Still, there were a few things I enjoyed. For example, it delivered one of the most charming meet-cute I have ever seen. Furthermore, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt both delivered some solid performances, they had some great chemistry and I really believed that those two characters were in love. Eventually, I loved this couple so much, if it would have been up to me, I would have just throw the whole SF plot by the window and focus on their romance. I mean, it remains watchable and I was entertained enough but the script didn't go deep enough into the various implications of the theories developed here. To conclude, even though it is a rather weak SF feature, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre.

Electric chemistry between Blunt and Damon doesn't bring enough to this fanciful and intelligent story. The build-up to the explanation of what was going on was better than post-explanation. I wanted to like this more but found myself fairly unsatisfied as the credits rolled.

A real nice idea with great acting. Even if the concept of mooving thru doors looks like in the metrix...

All the charisma in the world (meaning Matt Damon here) cant save this flop. The premise aint that good but the really bad thing here is the script, it´s so bland and soft that you just cant get interested enough to care.

It´s not the scifi element what makes it unbelievable, the characters are. They just adhere to a thin line of plot with all their strenght failing to make it even remotely sufferable.

K. Dick rocks.
Old school Sci-Fi rocks.
This is just sad.

This is a brilliant film. It's entertaining and inspiring, makes you think about your life a bit. That's the highest form of art there is.

The Adjustment Bureau is one of those films that simply falls into a whole new dimension that one doesn’t always come across when browsing through films to watch. The film became the dawning of a new genre by mixing science fictional stories and background settings with a part-romantic and intense storyline. Before watching the film, it had the immediate approach that it could possibly be a mislead fourth Jason Bourne film, excluding Matt Damon as the leading actor. But considering that the film perhaps was a tad slow to begin with, it felt like a film trapped between a political story and a thriller. However, when the film really got going, the entertainment kicked in and didn’t stop until the ending credits rolled.


In most recent years, we have witnessed a lot of fictional mind-bending stories that features thought-provoking segments involving ways of life and expresses a message. In the case of The Adjustment Bureau, it demonstrates how strong love is and how far you’d go to get the love of your life, even if it means your life to get it. Plus, it questions the viewers whether life as a whole is a game and is determined by fate. Whatever the outcome of it would be, the dialogue of the film is a worthy enough attempt at expanding new storyline ideas regarding how the world works and life itself. Aside from its intriguing concepts within the story, The Adjustment Bureau has a very solid romantic connection between the male and female lead and features intense and incredibly entertaining action with an identical style to previous filmmakers and their feature films.


Any action film involving Matt Damon is going to be solid entertainment, which we previously learned from the intense and exhilarating Jason Bourne trilogy. Damon is one of those actors who can pull off all-round satisfactory performances in films purely for entertainment, but can deliver Oscar-worthy performances. As for his performance in The Adjustment Bureau, as predicted it was interesting but only in very small doses, the David Norris character didn’t feel very realistic as a politician. As far as the action scenes are concerned, it was great to see Matt back in action again. After many great performances in her young career, Emily Blunt is a beautiful shining Hollywood star who once again shows what she is made of. No, her performance isn’t worth of an Oscar nomination as Elise, but it is solid enough for the style of film.


The relationship between David and Elise is special in many different ways, and they bond together so perfectly; such as the sophisticated humour between them and the message that the relationship between the two send out: that you never know who your soul-mate is, where you’ll meet them and when. In fact, the close relationship between the two reminded me of Jason Bourne (ironically played by Damon) and Marie (played by Franka Potente) in The Bourne Identity. So, Damon knows how to give good performances as characters in a very personal relationship. Supporting actors Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Anthony Ruivivar, Michael Kelly and Terrence Stamp all gave solid performances in their respective roles too.


George Nolfi deserves a high-five and a thumbs-up for writing, directing and co-producing such an extraordinary and crafty motion picture. Nolfi brings forth the brilliance in direction within The Adjustment Bureau from other filmmakers in the past, such as Paul Greengrass (Bourne trilogy, United 93) and Christopher Nolan (Memento, Inception). As you watch the film, you can tell that those said directors were clear inspirations to him, and helped him progress to make something new. Nolfi had already proved he had a talent as a screenwriter in previous works Ocean’s Twelve and The Bourne Ultimatum, but The Adjustment Bureau is a very solid starting point for Nolfi as a director and would make directors Greengrass and Nolan proud.


Overall, The Adjustment Bureau is an absolutely brilliant film that expresses what entertainment is all about. This is a small point, but there are some key areas in the film that could make this the start of a new trilogy, and doesn’t seem like it is over just yet. After watching the film, it leaves you questioning on how much your life is really left to fate and chance, and whether we are allowed to make our own choices in our future. The Adjustment Bureau proves itself worthy as one of the most entertaining films of 2011 that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

I like the conversation this movie brings up, that is if you are a political/religeous talker. Of course in Hollywood's concept of things, what feels good/right is always the way, a conversation for somewhere else. However, the action is good and I like the spirit of never giving up on your dreams. The movie kept you thinking, I liked it.

The director George Nolfi had a little treasure in his hands, a short novel by one of the most influential science fiction authors - Philip K. Dick - and the subject that most fascinated the mankind since had looked at the sky: free will. And among all the changes he made to the original story, there was a brilliant one: David, the main character, is destined to become the President of the United States. Nothing else could be more interesting if related with free will, and nothing could have more ways to go through and many aspects to analyze. Nolfi definitely threw all away. What David thinks once he meets the truth is not if he really wants to be the President of a country such as the United States, knowing perfectly he's just a pawn of the real and highest President. He makes a giant fuss to find a girl that kissed him exactly three minutes after they first met. Maybe I'm exaggerated and I knew right from the start this was going to be a love story, but seeing David not caring at all for his future as politician and human being really had sadden me. It could be an extraordinary film about life and also about love, and what remains is a bitter aftertaste you feel for missed chances.
Even their love story is not convincing: not just because I found feeble the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, but just because they were meant to be together in previous plans, so their rebellion seems to be not to the whole system but just the new plan. From this statement a contradiction comes out: if it's the proof that free will doesn't exist and real love, free from destiny, doesn't exist as well, that ending particularly politically correct doesn't make any sense. It seems like the director had the necessity to end the movie quickly and with a lovely happy end, ruining the last part - when David goes through doors and finally escapes with Elise - that is spectacular and uses greatly space and cinematography.
A little final note is about Emily Blunt: it was like she wasn't able to move me, even if her character was interesting for her effect on David's emotions. Those puppy faces she made didn't help at all. And though she was quite good in dancing scenes, especially with other dancers, she hasn't been good in building her character movements in "everyday's life". An example is her way to walk: I didn't see the typical way to walk that every dancer in the world has. This is the first movie of her I've ever seen, and I confess she disappointed me a lot. Especially because people speak highly of her and I expected more from her performance.

I couldn't adjust to well to this movie. Well because it dragged on and on. Of course I knew there was going to be a love story, but the chemistry between Damon and Blunt was so off, I though they might fall off the grid. The story almost saved the movie, but it didn't because they didn't deliver it that well. People were comparing it to Inception and the Matrix, well its nowhere near those two genius movies at all. Once again Emily Blunt does not impress me at all, I cant really see what I am missing at all. It did have a good story but other than that it wasn't special at all. And once again Howl was the last movie I rated about 8 and that was a while ago, when will it end.