Hollywood seems to be running out of ideas. This
latest offering which is part romance part free-will dramatisation has
a group of men with extraordinary powers orchestrating the actions of
the lead players - handsome young Senate candidate David Norris( Matt
Damon) and his lady love Elise(Emily Blunt), a contemporary dance
exponent. Now why these two people are more important than others, the
film fails to divulge. So we just have to sit back and watch what
ensues. The men in
fedoras with life altering powers try to keep the two lovers apart but
free will has it’s own magnetism and the two do meet up a few times
over several years and eventually force the powers that be to
acknowledge that their love is more powerful than any supernatural
mumbo-jumbo they were subjected to.
Directed, written by George Nolfi, based on the 1954 short story
"Adjustment Team" by Philip K. Dick, the film fails to muster
excitement mainly because the very idea of super beings controlling
human action appears preposterous and entirely untenable. Philip K Dick
might just be using the adjustment Team as a metaphor for fate
and karma but it doesn’t come across as a solid believable idea in the
film. The story is high concept no doubt but it’s execution fails to
pass muster mainly because there is no valid explanation for the
so-called adjustment powers of these super-beings. Philip K Dick’s
short stories have been grist for Hollywood studios before and have
managed to rake in the moolah despite the indifferent quality of the
cinematic productions. ‘Blade runner’ and ‘Minority Report’ were the
best of the lot while ‘Total recall’, ‘Next’ have little resemblance to
the original ideas. ‘ The adjustment Bureau’ promises a lot, especially
in the first half where the brain-twisting set-up and fluid pace manage
to keep you engrossed. But once pithy explanations about predestination
and free will come into play the narrative begins to sink under it’s
own contradictions. George Nolfi who wrote Ocean’s Twelve, The Bourne
Ultimatum, The Sentinel and Timeline, also scripted this film and is
also helming it. His debut narrative spiel though lacks the
breathlessness and solidity of a heady intelligent thriller. It’s ideas
about chance, destiny and the existence of a higher intelligence are
quite unconvincing and the obviousness of Nolfi’s manufactured intrigue
makes it that much more suspect.
By the time David gets the help of a sympathetic adjuster (Anthony
Mackie) and initiates a hot pursuit through the bureau’s network of
inter-dimensional doorways you begin to get the feel that this is an
‘Inception’ wannabe. The surreal set-pieces and visual pyrotechnics add
some gloss to the predominantly neo-noir content. The lead performances
by Matt Damon and Emily Blunt have strong gravitas but it’s not enough
to keep you glued to your seats. Kevin Thompson's elegant production
design, John Toll’s camerawork, Jay Rabinowitz’s editing and
Thomas Newman’s music add a touch of class to the proceedings also but
it’s never enough!
Rating: * * ½
