The Adjustment Bureau” exceeded my expectations, before viewing, I figured it was just going to be a generic thriller but instead it’s actually smart on how the plot is executed. However, that doesn’t mean that this is a “great” movie, since the film still suffers from flaws of having a weak anti-climatic ending, and it lacks anything profound after the climax. So in retrospect, if they had a more profound ending then it would have been a better and maybe “great” picture.

Matt Damon plays David Norris, a charming politician who is well liked by the public. The film opens by showing a montage of his campaign to join the US Senate but he ultimately loses despite having an early lead.  While preparing to give his losing speech in the men’s bathroom, he meets a woman named Elise (English actress Emily Blunt, who needs some work on her American accent).  She is merely hiding from security after crashing a wedding. She and David  somehow immediately fall in love after meeting for 4-6 min; this is one of the small problems in the film. The romance in this film is extremely underdeveloped, they barely even met, (and in a men’s bathroom of all places!) yet they love each other. It feels forced, but needed to get the plot going, I guess.)

So after giving David her phone number, Elise leaves, and David starts working at a capital firm after his political loss. He meets her by pure chance on his way to work, and they share small talk, and she…….. leaves him(again underdeveloped romance.) But after arriving to work early, he sees “official” looking men wearing hats and dressed in suits and ties questioning his boss. After a confused David makes a run for it, he gets caught and it is explained as to who these men are. Well there isn’t a clean cut name for them, they just watch over David to make sure that he follows “the plan” and they help by guiding his life to make sure he follows it. One of the men named Harry (Anthony Mackie) and Richardson (John Slattery) explains that David can never see Elise again because it not part of “the plan”.

It’s a very intriguing premise and director George Nolfi knows how to keep that throughout the film. It’s almost like “The Truman Show” crossed with an episode of “The Twilight Zone”.  It’s not anything like “Inception” or “The Matrix” like the ads would suggest, this film doesn’t have flashy special effects. Instead it uses a premise that keeps a very good interest and the onscreen chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt is very good and makes it a little more realistic. The chase scene in the beginning and climax are fascinating and exciting because of the way it’s presented. So for the most part I actually thought that this could be an impressive thriller, but because the movie lacks a profound ending, the movie is just an above-average film that’s good but not great.

***|PG-13| 124 Minutes