In The Adjustment Bureau, Matt Damon falls for a charming young woman whom he is not supposed to love. The Adjustment Bureau, the organization that ensures the universe progresses according to plan, gets very concerned. Queue the running.
Ok, that’s fun. The film overcomes the problem that nobody can run from God by having Him use the titular Bureau to enforce His will, then saddling it with a bunch of rules to make it inefficient. This is a story about a guy who tries to exploit those inefficiencies to get his way. But is it a good story?
It’s good enough. It’s practically un-American to dislike Matt Damon, and I rooted for him here. The Divine Enforcement Bureaucracy is a clever idea, and the film works it well. The love interest is lovable, the story clips along nicely, and I enjoyed the whole thing.
But it’s been a week since I’ve seen it, and it’s already fading in my memory. The Adjustment Bureau has no deep hooks, no big ideas, nothing to capture the imagination beyond a fun premise and professional execution. It’s fine, but not fantastic. How’s that for a lukewarm review?
