More romance than sci-fi

Rating: Null/10 (2 March 2011)

"There's much to be said for challenging fate instead of ducking behind it." Diana Trilling
Fate, determinism, chance, existential choice, and love-- all need adjustment, and the sci-fi The Adjustment Bureau is right for you if you love those abstractions and miss Twilight Zone and X Files. Matt Damon gives a strong under-acted performance as a New York senatorial candidate dogged by the Adjustment Bureau under the direction of a "chairman" who writes the life plan for specially targeted humans. His minions adjust as is necessary to the god-like's plans with as few "ripples" as possible.
Based on Philip K. Dick's short story, The Adjustment Team, it's an imaginative screenplay that takes itself not too seriously but risks being underdeveloped. What distinguishes Damon's David and his dancer-love Elise (Emily Blunt) is their determination to fulfill their serious love despite the Bureau's plans contrary to the consummation. The on-screen chemistry between Blunt and Damon is so pleasing that I am tempted to call this film a romance rather than a sci-fi thriller.
Actually, what makes me so favorable is the nicely-acted romance, which asks questions about whether to choose love or public service, love or professional success. For the existentialist, these are vexing alternatives squarely in the realm of personal choice, not a bureau's design.
Therein rests the philosophical core of the film: Can mankind be trusted with free will given how badly they have screwed up over the last 2000 years or so? The Bureau's notable success at intervention during the 16th through 19th centuries promises that it needs to make itself felt again, especially as the path of a future USA president must be controlled.
Although I am tempted to cite the absurdities of the plot and the philosophical inconsistencies, I will refrain in favor of a pleasantly provocative tale that tries more than most other films at this time to engage our minds. The parallel to Inception is not far-fetched; the manipulation is just different. But in the end the humans must take control of their fates, and in both films they do.\
Although it's not Blade Runner or Minority Report (both Dick stories), I applaud a film that dares to remind us of our determination to forge productive lives. Egyptians today are living proof of the power of free will.
"If I'm not supposed to be with her, why do I feel like this?" Dave Norris about Elise and the Bureau's plan to keep them apart.