Don’t take the first third of The Adjustment Bureau too seriously, with cameos by slimy establishment types such as Jon Stewart and too many Clinton administration officials to name. Just enjoy this slice of science fiction romance, which is based on a Philip K. Dick short story. Ignore the plugs for solar panels and the digs at lawyers and the New York Post as the framework within which we meet liberal politician (Matt Damon, playing the same role he did in Hereafter). The left-wing New York congressman is intended for something bigger by the titular bunch who serve as a proxy for God, the angels, and Heaven rolled into one, or, alternately, the force for good if you prefer. When Damon’s character misses his mark in a plan developed for him by the Bureau, he meets a British dancer (Emily Blunt, living up to her name) and they fall in love. From there, The Adjustment Bureau is ponderous, and it doesn’t get interesting until Terence Stamp shows up as one of the more insistent bureaucrats to get Damon’s protagonist off the love trail and back on the Bureau’s track. What I like about the movie is that the science fiction serves the action, not the other way around. There are some terrific scenes in New York City, decked in film noirish touches, subtle humor (the Bureau is behind those dropped calls) and a generally benevolent theme about free will. When Damon’s character chooses to break from the plan, and he does, declaring that “all I have are the choices that I make,” before taking flight, you believe he’s willing to do whatever it takes. The climax revolves around New York’s classic skyline, factoring in the Statue of Liberty, and the couple-on-the-run vibe makes it worthwhile. Try to forget that his politics are probably as bad as Obama’s and that her dancing is as engaging as a modern art exhibit, or that the plot evokes every film in the genre from Damon’s Legend of Bagger Vance to Olivia Newton-John‘s Xanadu and Two of a Kind. Take The Adjustment Bureau as it is.
