Review! The Adjustment Bureau

Boy meets girl, they fall in love but the metaphysical hat-wearing powers that be, insist otherwise. How much is our hero willing to sacrifice for love?
The Adjustment Bureu had me captivated through till its untimely end. It had an interesting high concept (thanks to the prolific Philip K. Dick) with high stakes and taut pacing. It also had characters that, in my opinion, were quite memorable...especially Emily Blunt's who stole most of her scenes. All this excitement was good enough for me to nearly forgive the occasional plot hole or gimmick (such as the Bureau having their near-omniscient abilities limited by something as simple as water...gimme a break guys, this is Philip K. Dick we're talking about here).

I was somewhat disappointed with the ending though. I agree with Roger Ebert that the filmmakers didn't have the guts to showcase graver ramifications of the conflicts that arose in the movie. Furthermore, the movie seemed to end suddenly, with a payoff that wasn't adequately set up...kinda like Spielberg's War of the Worlds.

With movies, you could go on a purposeful journey from A to B, or you could go on a roller coaster ride where the thrill of the ride is more important than the final destination (or lack of it). The best movies are those that creatively combine both scenarios. As much as I want to, I can't say this movie was one of those. Maybe I need a second viewing.

Verdict: The IMDB rating of 7.3 (out of 10) is fair enough.

Comments

  1. tiaMarch 11, 2011 at 4:10 PM

    I thought it was a good movie. I wasn't in the mood for a romance movie but it did a good job of making it more than that. I expected the worst for the ending and although the designer of the plot choose a safer conclusion, I wonder what it would have been like to end otherwise...

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