The relationship between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping them apart.The relationship between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping them apart.The relationship between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping them apart.
- Awards
- 1 win & 9 nominations total
- Suburban Neighbor
- (as Natalie E. Carter)
- U.S. Coast Guard Officer
- (as Capt. Gregory P. Hitchen)
- Upstate Farmer
- (as Darrell James LeNormand)
- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
- (as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg)
- Political Consultant
- (as Kar)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Matt Damon is a charismatic presence and commands the film with ease without ever trying too hard. Emily Blunt has a genuine winning charm as one often finds with Blunt, her character is not quite as interesting as Damon's but Blunt makes it work. The two have great chemistry together, it really sparkles. In fact it is the romance that comes off the best and most consistently, being where 'The Adjustment Bureau' really comes alive. Anthony Mackie is suitably mysterious while also quite likable in the film's latter stages.
John Slattery really looks the part and has a lot of fun in a suitably shady role while Terence Stamp brings some sinister dignity and authority to a rather severely underwritten character that appears in the film too late somewhat. On the acting front, 'The Adjustment Bureau' is very good.
As it is too with the way it's made, suitably gritty and slick with some inventive moments and an audacious style. The locations are chosen well and used cleverly. The music score has a good mix of understatement and thrilling pulsation. The first half has a lot of very interesting and smart ideas that leaves one gripped enough to carry on and see further how it goes and there is a good deal of fun and a few suspenseful jolts to be had.
For all those great things, 'The Adjustment Bureau' would have been an even better film if it had done more with the premise. The romance is the most well done and memorable element of it and the rest doesn't live up. It's intriguing and entertaining, but the second half suffers from playing it too safe and having too many ideas needing to be tied up, meaning that potentially great ideas are not fully expanded upon (even the whole basic premise doesn't feel fully cooked).
Pacing does get stodgy, as a result of the lack of risk-taking and struggles with keeping things probable and consistent. Despite the conflict being well performed the threat feels lacking because it is handled in a way that's under-cooked and somewhat repetitive which dilutes the suspense quite badly. The more under-explored 'The Adjustment Bureau' gets, the more confusing, tonally muddled and far-fetched it gets too. This is especially true with the ending, which to me is down there with the decade's "what the heck" film endings.
Overall, has a lot to recommend but there was a lot more to the film that never fully emerged. 6/10 Bethany Cox
One day, David is traveling by bus and he meets Elise again. She gives her phone number to him and David promises to call her. However, strangers wearing hats approach to David and tell that they belong to the Adjustment Bureau and Elise and David must be kept apart. They destroy the piece of paper with her phone number and David is unable to contact Elise. Three years later, David sees Elise walking on the sidewalk. He gets out of the bus to meet her and he learns that she is a dancer. But the strangers use their abilities to keep them apart. What is the reason why David and Elise can not be together?
"The Adjustment Bureau" is a romantic and suspenseful sci-fi based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, the writer of "Blade Runner", "Total Recall", "Impostor", "Minority Report", "Paycheck", "A Scanner Darkly" and "Next", among other sci-fi films. The intriguing story is ambiguous; the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt is wonderful; and it is always great to see Terence Stamp. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Os Agentes do Destino" ("The Agents of Destiny")
Note: On 06 September 2023, I saw this film again.
David (Matt Damon) has met Elise (Emily Blunt) and based on one spontaneous kiss and one flirtatious encounter, he's determined that she's the one he's supposed to be with. They have other plans. Oh yes, the indefinable, ambiguous pronoun "they". Just to keep a sense of the intrigue afloat, I'll define "they" as the men of "The Adjustment Bureau". What they want, we don't really know. But David wants the girl—a beautiful girl—but just a girl nonetheless.
For us, questions of free will, fate, soul mates, success and pre-defined destinies abound. All running around an intricate maze of New York architecture. Although intricate might not be the best word because there's nothing here for us to figure out; the film lays everything out well in advance, and over and over again in case you missed it. At least there's intelligence to the story but unfortunately no subtlety.
"The Adjustment Bureau" has pretty city-scapes and pretty people playing more profound characters than pretty people usually play. As with most genre-mixing films, there is something for everybody. I got the intelligence that is usually sorely missing from big-budget Hollywood action films although I could have done with a bit more respect.
"The Adjustment Bureau" is certainly a different romantic film. The plot is an engaging and refreshing mix of romance and science fiction. The thrill and excitement of the science fiction part is well maintained throughout the film, while the romance part melts viewers hearts. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are so convincing together, making their romance very believable. Once again, Emily Blunt puts on a particularly stellar performance, showing her impressive range of acting skills and on screen charm.
"The Adjustment Bureau" is a good film as it is a refreshing departure from mundane and formulaic romantic comedies. It deserves 100 minutes of your time.
Caveat, I'm not the target audience, (and hadn't read the short story source first) so for you to calibrate: I rated Jumper at 7; Avatar at 6 bumped up to an 8 for CGI; and Last Airbender at 3.
This film has all the individual elements for a great time: The opening draws you into the story; Blunt is engaging and sensual; Stamp is villainous; Damon/Blunt have fabulous chemistry including a great meet; initial mystery, sophisticated humor, snappy repartee, wonderful score, and superb scenery. The supporting characters are well cast and acted. However, the thin plot doesn't sustain the whole movie, and it takes too long for the minimal plot to unfold, even though there are myriad chase scenes to divert you at first.
The movie was seemingly created for chase scenes, with a poorly contrived reason for the "boy meets girl, boy loses girl but continues to search for her storyline", tossed in to justify all the chasing. In attempting to make everything mysterious, the audience is kept as ignorant as the characters to the point where it became "THATS the reason he's been chasing after her? How DISAPPOINTING!" when the cause for separation is unveiled. The secret meetings which presumably either advance or reveal the mystery were annoying instead. Finally, in the last portion of the movie, the opening doors and running become so repetitive, you can feel like the Blunt character, who has her hands over her head and is screaming. The ending is abrupt, contrived and disappointing, a veritable deus ex machina version.
Conversely, my companion who loves everything sci-fi or sci-fantasy, and reads Phillip K Dick (including the short story on which this was based) rated the movie "excellent" as opposed to my "ok". Even though the movie diverges from the short story, he suffered no confusion or disappointment with the story line, big reveals, or ending. He also thought the cast, romance, and humor were great.
We both agree--do see the movie on the big screen as it certainly enhances the suspense and startling moments (political crowd scene, adjustment scene, car crashes, action scenes and finale) and shows off the great NYC locations. He says go ahead and pay full price,the movie is worth it
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to Emily Blunt, filming at the Statue of Liberty was frequently interrupted by onlookers yelling out "Matt Damon!" in imitation of the puppet from Team America: World Police (2004).
- GoofsWhen David is on the bus with Elise she drops his blackberry in the cup of coffee. He receives a call from Charlie on his flip phone. After the scene cuts to Charlie talking on the phone and back to David, David is talking on his Blackberry instead of the flip phone. This is one continuous conversation that should have been done on one phone.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Harry Mitchell: Most people live life on the path we set for them, too afraid to explore any other. But once in a while people like you come along who knock down all the obstacles we put in your way. People who realize freewill is a gift that you'll never know how to use until you fight for it. I think that's the chairman's real plan. That maybe one day, we won't write the plan, you will.
- Crazy creditsSpecial Thanks: The Chairman
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Los agentes del destino
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $50,200,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $62,495,645
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $21,157,730
- Mar 6, 2011
- Gross worldwide
- $127,869,379
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1