The Adjustment Bureau

Matt Damon stars as a politician who sees a glimpse of his fate and is forced to make a choice; pursue the woman of his dreams (Emily Blunt) or follow his career and become President.

The Adjustment Bureau is different to most high concept films in that it’s fuelled by the chemistry between the two leads rather than its premise. This doesn’t feel like an intentional choice; Damon and Blunt light up the screen together and the story becomes a sideshow.

Damon meets Blunt in a series of chance encounters three years apart, and yet the relationship feels like it’s meant to be. This is incredibly hard to pull off and is really fun to watch. I’d go so far as to say the film is worth watching just for this.

The concept is flimsy and the story doesn’t unravel in a logical, entertaining or intriguing way. Nolfi seems to know what he wants from the film, but struggles to transfer that to the screen. We get a story shrouded in mystery, yet lots of dialogue trying to explain what’s going on.

It really needs to commit to either going into detail or leaving us hanging. Instead there’s just loads of pointless, boring dialogue that goes nowhere.

The Adjustment Bureau is an average, mildly entertaining high concept thriller propped up by two five-star performances from Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.