“The plan was gonna be just to come straight home to bed and skip the write up. I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that Im not gonna see EVERY movie like I always do until my show is done, and that the ones I do see aren’t getting written up. But I \m/ loved THe Adjustment Bureau so much that I needed to share.
What we have here is easily my favorite movie of the year thus far. I was completely absorbed by the whole thing. I actually felt a lot like I did during Inception, except that it wasn’t nearly as confusing.
The premise here is that every decision that we make is monitored by these classy men in sharp suits. If our choices dont fall in line with “”the plan”” that these dudes have been handed, then they intervene to get you back on track. So of course, our hero, Matt Damon falls off track because of a girl, Emily Blunt, and he fights these workers to be able to keep the girl and keep everything else he wants. There were three reasons why it worked incredibly well
First off, the plot was kept very well streamlined. It was a unique concept and they didnt overcomplicate or over simplify it. There was no extraneous backstory, no over the top schitck, just direct and to the point story telling.
Next were the characters. Matt Damon’s David Norris was incredibly likeable for a politician. With his charm and drive and charisma, you rooted for him, and wanted him to get what he wanted. Emily Blunt’s Elise was a girl you could fall in love with between her spirit and creativity and strong will. By the the sub-par standards that pass for on screen romance today, I would not classify this as such. But if you wanna dig into the type of connections that past leading characters had, it was beautifully romantic. Im always the first to gag whenever a scene gets mushy, but I’ll admit that I hold this one line I stole from Fringe to be true “”within every cynic you have a frustrated romantic””. I bring that up just to say that I truly did feel the romance vibe between the two characters, and really wanted them to be together, not just because that was the expected response.
The third factor of awesome was the cast. I am just so impressed with Matt Damon. I’ve loved him for years, and he really does seem to improve with every movie that he does. Not a lotta actors can say that. But if you look at him back in the days of Kevin Smith movies, pre-Good Will Hunting, and compare that to now that boy has matured and grown so much. Its only a matter of time til he aquires another shiny piece of hardware for his mantle, this time for acting instead of writing. Emily Blunt is rapidly becoming one of my favorite actresses. He has this amazing balance of grace and grit that I can only stive for. You cast too flimsy of a girl in a film like this one and it falls apart.
There were some great supporting cast members as well. I loved John Slattery. Mad Men has given him a niche that he plays into very well, and I like that he takes advantage of it. Also enjoyed Anthony Mackie’s performance, and Terrance Stamp was brilliant as well. Maybe I’m just proud of myself for recognizing Mackie (he’s been on my radar since Behanding in Spokane when I got his autograph at the stage door) and for one of the few times of being able to correctly identify Terrance Stamp right away without first thinking it was Malcom Macdowell.
Oh the film also gets bonus points for the dance element. Maybe that’s why I had a stronger emotional connection than is my norm.
Right well, time for ice cream then sleep
You already know how many rock hands this is getting
The Adjustment Bureau – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/