Movie: Adjustment Bureau
Cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Kastriner
Being a fan of Matt Damon plus with the trailer looking promising, I went to watch “Adjust Bureau” with great expectations. Maybe I shouldn't have!
Forced apart
The storyline is simple: An affair between a politician, David Norris (Matt Damon) and a ballerina, Elise Sellas, (played by the beautiful Emily Blunt) is affected by mysterious forces that keepthe lovers apart.
The mysterious forces here are the Adjustment Bureau, who are people who control the way the world functions.
Now what do these hat-wearing people from the Adjustment Bureau do? They can stop time, decide who meets whom and what happens every day.
In short, they are eerily similar to the guys from the 1998 movie “Dark City”, except that those hat-clad people were bad and these are good.
The story may sound almost clichéd to people who have watched “The Marix” series and “The Dark City”. But the writers do try to explain how the members of the Bureau alter only significant events and leave other events to human free-will.
In parts
The movie does have its moments, such as when the purpose of the existence of the Adjustment Bureau is explained and, especially during the climax, when David tries to fool the bureau and elope with Elise.
Matt Damon puts in a solid performance as a young politician with high aspirations and Emily Blunt matches her role to a T. They share a good chemistry and the romantic scenes are well acted. But the use of hats and turning the door knobs clockwise to use the Bureau's path is almost fairytale stuff and makes you snigger, almost.
The movie has an interesting start, picks up speed on the way but the end is soft. You are left expecting something more. The climax is a little abrupt and not explained convincingly.
Bottomline: Overall, worth a watch, but only just.
Deepak M, Final Year, ECE, RMD Engineering College.
