The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Well how to summarise this film? Original, thought provoking, spiritual and romantic.

I did promise a review of the latest PKD film as soon as I got chance to watch it and since it was released today, I decided to take a punt at it and see if it was any good. And wow, just wow. Probably the best film I’ve seen so far this year. It is no doubt a film that will polarise critics but as I’ve said before the nuances of PKD films are lost on many people. I expected I’d probably like it but I didn’t just like this film, I loved it. It’s also another example of what seems to me to be a really undertapped hybrid movie genre – the science fiction romance. It was massively better than The Time Traveller’s Wife although perhaps not quite as good as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. There are other examples of course such as the Fountain and Solaris which similarly polarise critics but these examples really don’t compare.

So what exactly is it about? The film stars Matt Damon as David Norris, a democratic politician running for the senate. By chance (although perhaps not – further analysis required) he meets Elise (Emily Blunt), a ballet dancer in the men’s room as he’s rehearsing his concession speech having just lost the election. The chance encounter leaves him more than a little flustered and inspires him to give the speech of his life which unbeknown to him has secured him an interesting future. This is where the film kicks off – he’s never supposed to meet her again and agents of fate are supposed to ensure this doesn’t happen but one of them – Harry (played by Anthony Mackie) bumbles his job (perhaps deliberately) and they meet again which although seemingly serendipitous at the time there turns out to be good reason why which is later revealed. This sets in motion a chain of events whereby Damon discovers the existence of these agents of fate (The Adjustment Bureau) and learns what it is they’re trying to prevent – their being together. During the first encounter it would seem the Adjustment Bureau have successfully intervened and prevented what they were trying to prevent. But years later then they meet again and Damon now being aware of the Adjustment Bureau is adamant that they not change the fate he chooses for himself and thus begins the bizarre combination of existential rollercoaster and love story uniquely twisted together to make a thoroughly enjoyable film.

Although presented primarily as science fiction, the film would seem to have some very strong religious undertones. The Adjustment Bureau can be likened to angels and the film presents a peculiar reason for the need of humanity to not control their own fate but nonetheless a very valid one that’s almost totally believable in light of the real world events it references. They also speak continually of the mysterious chairman who presumably represents God. This probably isn’t what PKD intended as the Adjustment Team were really just a way to personify fate so he could argue against the concepts of predestination but the way the film subtly presents what is really a religious concept as science fiction is very clever and will be satisfying to audiences regardless of religious persuasion as it doesn’t explicitly state anything. In this way the film could arguably be compared to the Mothman Prophecies as questions about the agents of fate and where they come from or who they are are all kept (correctly) unanswered.

The Adjustment Bureau although the antagonists in the story are largely benevolent and only proceeding according to specific instructions. The film states openly that in the past they’ve tried various approaches to controlling fate, from being very controlling to limited intervention to being completely hands off. It would seem that when they don’t intervene that humanity finds a way to fuck everything up royally and this is the reason they have no choice but to follow ‘The Plan’. Going into the film I had expected things to be a little more black and white than this but refreshingly the ‘bad guys’ are entirely presented as a shade of grey. This is perhaps illustrated best when Damon asks Stamp something to the tune of if they’re so great why is the world such a mess to which Stamp glibly replies “At least it’s still here.” and then goes on to point out why it wouldn’t be if it weren’t for them.

The film also alludes to several notions present in good science fiction time travel films such as the butterfly effect and the ripple effect. And it is at times a highly amusing film to watch as the Adjustment Bureau have a real time interpretation of how events are going to pan out if certain actions take place, then they watch helplessly as Damon screws up the entire future before their eyes.

As to how it compares to other PKD films that deal with the fate versus free will paradox, it doesn’t exactly come to the same conclusions which made the end kind of refreshing. Granted it was still the happy sappy Hollywood ending but if it hadn’t have been a happy ending, this film would God damn awful and depressing as fuck. The conclusions it draws are rather different than other PKD films that deal with this theme in that whilst the film does state that while fate will be controlled for a long time to come until humanity can truly be trusted off its leash that not knowing the plan creates the convincing illusion of free will and for a limited few (Damon and Blunt), true free will should they fight for it strongly enough. I have to admit I did love the ending even if it wasn’t totally epic, it was quite existential and echoed Vanilla Sky in many ways (a rooftop finale with a peppering of strong philosophy).

The film is also laced with humour but it’s all well timed and doesn’t compromise the overall dark tone of the story. Additionally the humour makes the love story much easier to believe as the character interaction is fantastic. The performances of Damon and blunt were out of this world. I’m not usually good at spotting on screen chemistry but these two had it in oodles and it was so good it lifted the film to whole new level as they were exceptionally captivating to watch. The screenplay is above par excellence and has the audience genuinely caring whether this couple get together based on one single five minute conversation (I hope you’re taking notes Chic Geek). The back and forth dialogue between Blunt and Damon throughout the film is simply amazing.

I would have to say that overall this is one of the stronger Phillip K Dick adaptions out there and for me it was right on the money. An instant classic.