The greatest disappointment was the gross lack of Chuck Norris jokes…
David Norris (see what I mean? oh, and Matt Damon), with the charming smile in one pocket and a sketchy past in the other, rises from his grungy upbringing to run for Senator of New York. Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) is a professional ballet dancer, spunky and sassy. After Norris is slaughtered in the election, he stumbles upon Elise in the men’s room (oh, it’s cool, she’s just hiding from security after crashing a wedding). Their chemistry is fizzling instantly, and their spontaneous kiss is magical. Her fire and spirit inspire David to give the best speech of his career – catapulting him to a lead in the next election.
The next day, after failing to spill his coffee according to some agenda that a fairly attractive, skinny black man in a hat (Anthony Mackle) is in charge of, he runs into Elise again. But that wasn’t supposed to happen. He was never supposed to see her again. He was never supposed to arrive at work when he did.
More men in hats confront David. They explain some religious hoo-dah about “men upstairs,” “the chairman,” life-plans that keep the universe in check, human-beings can’t make decisions… stuff like that. They swear David to secrecy about their existence, otherwise he gets some serious “reset” lobotomy, oh, and he can never have Elise.
Even three years later when chance takes over and he bumps into her again. It’s not according to plan. But then this Thompson dude (Terence Stamp) ups the ante. If they get together, David will never be president, and Elise will never have the dance career that she would have had. And he decides to show his omnipotence by forcing a sprained ankle on Elise. David is faced with following his heart vs. following destiny.
Superb premise. Once things got cooking in the bathroom I was hooked. Men with hats observing from above, stalking a potential presidential candidate. The whole thing with the coffee spilling at 7:05 or the world keels over is pretty awesome. My first question (of many): are we all observed? The entire bureau seems to focus all efforts on these TWO people. I mean, that’s cool, that’s a movie, but they barely put forth the effort to make it look like they observed anyone else at all. The “big reveal” or whatever missed the opportunity to make this look like a universal organization, encompassing every human being who missteps. Oh well.
Free agency vs. pre-determined destiny. Being religious myself, these underlying themes are fascinating. While many believe “the chairman” to be God as we know him, I think of this chairman dude as being a lot more like the devil. Obviously this isn’t the real world, and in this real world I do choose to believe that God is watching over upstairs. But he doesn’t intervene in our affairs like those in The Adjustment Bureau do, he gave us choice. Satan, the devil, or whatever, wouldn’t give us that choice. And that makes us slaves to him. This is a dystopian society, and things AREN’T supposed to be like that.
Which is where my main problem comes from. (Sorry for the religious rant in there, bee-tee-dubs. I couldn’t help it). Spoilers. After all their cat and dog antics, David determines his decision. He wants to be with Elise no matter the cost. His decision is made and no “chairman” is going to tell him what to do. So, in an escapade of brilliance, he and Elise depart hand in hand to confront the man who writes the plans, since no one else seems to know why they can’t be together.
Call me a realist, but I wanted there to be a face to the responsibility. I’m so pleased that this dude came to his humane side and changed the plan just for them to be together. He’s a real sweetheart. But, as anticlimactic as it is, I wanted some kind of confrontation between the good guys and the messed-in-the-heads. Some big speech about letting us choose our destiny, no one can force us to do anything blabbity blah. But instead, we get some immediate resolution between Elise and David’s story… and nothing for the bigger picture. What happens to the next person who unknowingly never meets the person of their dreams? The future remains sadly unaffected and I guess I had a problem with that.
Anyways.
Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are a fantastic duo, and I knew that would be so two years ago when I first HEARD about this movie. I’m not even going to attempt to deny my girl-crush on Emily Blunt, she’s a terribly versatile actress and I’ll bank on any film of hers nowadays. And, well, who doesn’t love everybody’s man Matt Damon.
The theme and mood of the film is a perfect balance between drama and adventurous excitement. The music is a wonderful accompaniment to the mood, Thomas Newman is a stud. The pace too was captivating the entire way (though perhaps with one too many jumps to the future), and I was intrigued until the end with its outcome. It’s a thinker, and everyone knows that I dig that kind thing.
And again, the plot itself was original and fantastically enthralling. Walking through doors, super hats, men in suits nonchalantly controlling everything. Though it perhaps didn’t achieve its potential, it is still worth the watch and an exciting ride. 7/10
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