Sunday, March 27, 2011

I'll be honest right off the bat. My initial sense of The Adjustment Bureau's concept was of cynicism. I said to myself: "Everything's now run by a bureaucracy, even fate!" But after watching the movie, I pretty much had a change of heart.

The film stars Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, who are out to defy the plan that has been laid out for them. The team in charge of correcting any deviations is the eponymous Adjustment Bureau, a mysterious and powerful organization that has powers beyond human capabilities. The bureau is not perfect though-- they are still stumped by random chance, something that works in favor of the film's star-crossed lovers.

The moral of the film seems to be of controlling your own destiny. Even when things seem to be planned out for you, you have the power and free will to chart your own path. This is not something new, but given the context of an all-powerful organization, it makes for an interesting film.

The Adjustment Bureau is a high-concept film that makes some trade-offs in the story to reduce the complexity and avoid Inception-level confusion. Fans of Philip K. Dick's work will appreciate this film as one of the better movie versions of the author's works.


Rating: 3/5

47 comments:

  1. "inception level confusion" i know what you mean. Im actually interested in seeing this one because i just finished the bourne trilogy and would like to see damon outside of those movies.

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  2. Might have to watch this movie now.

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  3. Haven't seen it yet. The previews made it look great. But then again don't they all..

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  4. maybe I'll take a look.. but I don't like Matt Damon

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  5. I totally agree. I have pre-release screening tickets months ago... Thought it was a little to over the top. Good review.

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  6. I must agree too! still quite decent.. btw interesting blog.. glad to find it! :3

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  7. Haven't seen it yet but enjoy Matt Damon so will probably be giving it a look. Nice review

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  8. I've heard about this movie. Should be really good. Matt Damon is a good actor, despite my urge to pronounce his name with a retarded voice every time (because of Team America). Nice blog. Following

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  9. I saw this in theater today! I really like it!

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  10. I saw the trailer for this, it looked absolutely horrid, I was laughing. But good review.

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  11. I like Emily Blunt, I'll look into this. I'm a fan of Blade Runner, but I recently read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and was surprised how different the book was from the movie. I wonder how close this movie is.

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  12. I can't decide if Matt Damon is a good versatile actor or if he just plays one character really well. Either way, good review, followed!

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  13. Haven't seen it yet. I really love all of Matt Damon's work though. gotta put it on my list :p

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  14. will be checking this out. Thanks for the post!

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  15. I'll have to make sure I see it

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  16. This might be a Netflix rental for me. I only picture Matt Damon is The Bourne Identity films.

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  17. Matt Damon does some decent stuff - Will check it out, thanks for the review! : )

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  18. I absolutely have to see this now.

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  19. The premise seems kinda terrible, but I do like Philip k dick so I might have to check this out. Thanks for the review!

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  20. I thought this movie was a sci-fi thriller. It turned out to be a chick flick.

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  21. Phillip K. Dick's works have been making the rounds lately. can't wait to see this. :D

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  22. Matt Damond is a great actor thanks for the review checking it out.

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  23. am i the only one who's unconvinced by this emily blunt character? not sure she's that great.

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  24. My friend saw it. He said there was some sort of love story. That's where I lost interest completely.

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  25. I had a friend refer this movie to me. Guess I'll have to check it out then!

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  26. The trailer look OK. I might watch it on netflix when it comes out then.

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  27. i like Emily Blut a lot so i gonna see it anyway

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  28. ima see it one of these days

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  29. i want to see this evrything matt is in i love

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  30. saw it, I rekn 2/5 it was meh

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  31. More like 1/5 to me.

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  32. i thought it was a total bite of inception. it must have been made at the same time cuz they are like way too similar.. neither one gave me chills like when i first saw the matrix.

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  33. Sounds ok but as soon as i seen this i kind of thought they are trying to cast matt damon in the same kind of roles all the time now, i fear he has been type cast, i will still watch and might give a review on my blog to, i plan to do this review thing as well.

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  34. Haven't seen this one yet, I will put it on my 2watch list!

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  35. I saw this first time and must say it, i go search for more info :) thank you!

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  36. Looks interesting, gotta check it out...

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  37. What about soundtrack? Is it nice? I love OSTs and sometimes just watch movies for them :D

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  38. Might rent it and give it a try.

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  39. Sounds highly relevant nowadays. I'll definitely look into this one.

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  40. Love the review! Keep up the great work!

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  41. I do like matt damon way better than leo. just cuz. just watched suckerpunch. fun.

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  42. I agree with Mr. Dough, it does seem pretty relevant now. I saw commercials for this and was intrigued, I will definitely have to go check it out.

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