Moviegoers familiar with the stories of Philip K. Dick (which have inspired "Blade Runner," "A Scanner Darkly" and other films) will feel a creeping unease as they watch the latest Hollywood adaptation of his work, "The Adjustment Bureau."
From early on, the script brims with enough talk of soulmates, destiny and romantic coincidences to keep Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan employed the rest of their lives. Mysterious forces are at work, yes, but they spend much of their time planning the fulfillment of our dreams. Like a character whose eyes have just been opened to the conspiracy around him, the viewer eventually comes to a shocking conclusion: He's watching a Philip K. Dick Chick Flick.
Only it isn't, because the movie's romantic core is a complete fabrication. In the original story, Matt Damon's character was not a single, fun-loving politician but a married guy working in a real estate office. And not to spoil anything about the movie or the story, but let's just say one is in keeping with Dick's customary paranoiac vibe and the other was produced by a major movie studio.
As middlebrow sci-fi romances go, "The Adjustment Bureau" isn't so bad. Damon plays a politician whose knack for last-minute screw-ups makes life rough for the mysterious, fedora-wearing agents who (unbeknownst to him) are tweaking reality — a spilled coffee here, a dropped cell-phone call there — to nudge him toward his destiny.
Trouble is, the bureau gives the guy one nudge that sends him over the edge: They put dancer Emily Blunt in his path, intending a one-time encounter that inspires a career-changing speech. But the lug falls in love, and his single-minded attempts to reconnect with her might keep him from becoming the great leader he's supposed to be.
There's an enjoyable flavor to the antics of these supposed world-shapers, who are led by hard-nosed guys like John Slattery and Terence Stamp. And as Damon realizes what's being done to him, his attempts to escape their control put the picture's New York City locations to good use. But there's also a familiarity to it all (the retro wardrobe as signifier of mysterious power; the arguments about free will versus fate), and a lack of any kind of edge in the script that might camouflage the screenwriter's pandering romantic tendencies.
In the end, the most memorable things in the film are the magic Moleskine notebooks the bureaucrats carry, where pulsing, elaborate charts track the long-term effects of every seemingly insignificant decision. It's not the first time Philip K. Dick has had to compete with production design — "Blade Runner" and "Minority Report" spring to mind — but it's the first time the race has been rigged so badly against him.
"The Adjustment Bureau"
Our Grade: C+
Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller
Running Time: 106 min
MPAA rating: PG-13
Release Date: Mar 4, 2011
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