Needs some minor adjustments

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2015)

David Norris is a rather arrogant fellow. As well he might be as he is a Congressman who is expected to coast to victory in his upcoming Senate race. The sky is the limit for young David Norris...but then the sky comes crashing down on him. He loses that Senate race and, humbled, makes a candid concession speech which goes over so well he immediately becomes the favorite to win the next Senate race a few years down the line. In this speech, by laying himself bare and talking from the heart, David really connects with people. He'd really like to thank the person who inspired the speech. That would be Elise who is...a woman he just met in the men's bathroom? This intriguing woman might change David's destiny. And that is a problem. David and Elise were never supposed to meet. Says who? Some mysterious men in fedoras.
David and Elise have their restroom moment and then she's gone. David would very much like to find her. The men in hats would very much prefer he not do so. And they have strange powers which enable them to keep David and Elise apart. But then one of the men in hats screws up, David bumps into Elise and things start to get really, really weird. The men in hats are from the Adjustment Bureau. David catches them in the act of doing some adjusting on people in his life. They can change people's thoughts, ensuring that everything unfolds according to The Plan. What plan? The Chairman's plan. Who's the Chairman? David would surely like to know but the Adjustment Bureau is not going to be forthcoming with any such information. All they need David to know is that if he reveals their existence to anyone he will be "reset" which is a cute way of saying lobotomized. And he is not to see Elise ever again.
So of course David becomes more determined than ever to see Elise. The Adjustment Bureau throws obstacles in his path, David overcomes them. Eventually the Bureau has to call in the big gun, Thompson, the scariest dude in their arsenal. Thompson provides a little insight into the Bureau. He provides a little insight into why David is so important. And he makes it perfectly clear that he will have no qualms about crushing Elise to make sure David sticks to The Plan. Can love overcome? This is all very intriguing but as the movie plays out it is not quite as exciting as one might hope. Things get rather muddled, bogged down. For much of the film's running time there is not much energy to it. Matt Damon gives a good performance as David, a character who is initially unlikable who we very quickly start identifying with and pulling for. Emily Blunt is also quite good as Elise, creating a character who is instantly intriguing and always interesting. Easy to see why David would fall for Elise. Damon and Blunt have good chemistry but, seeing as the whole point of the movie is their two characters being kept apart, they are not ever really together long enough for that chemistry to pay great dividends. The Adjustment Bureau is of course shrouded in mystery. That mystery doesn't pay itself off as well as you might hope, instead of a big finish things sort of fizzle out. Questions are raised about humanity's free will but those questions are not really answered satisfactorily. In the end it doesn't quite all tie together. There's some good intrigue here, some good romance too. Damon and Blunt do very well, drawing you in and making you really invest in this relationship which, for reasons unknown, is not allowed to be. It's an intelligent film, one which makes you think. So there's a lot the film has going for it. There is the nagging sense though that the film falls just a little bit short of the greatness which seemed to be within its grasp. Maybe a slight adjustment here or there...