The Adjustment Bureau (7 1/4" of Fun)

Wow, do I feel refreshed! I had no idea that NyQuil was so powerful. They are not kidding when they say it is the night-time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine. I am still getting through my email from the past five months and catching up on a few neglected bills but it doesn’t appear to me that I have missed much. I guess Bears had it right all along, hibernation really does a body good. I don’t know what the loyal readers of this blog like to do after a good five month hibernation but I like to go to the movies.

I guess you could say that I would come out of hibernation to see a new Terence Stamp film. The guy is General Zod for goodness sake, one of the meanest villains of 1980. That being said, Jack O’Halloran if you are reading this blog (and why wouldn’t you be) you are still my favorite villain of 1980 but I really feel as if your effort to enslave the people of Earth was half-hearted at best. I realize that we all have off days and sometimes coming to work as a villain with super powers can seem taxing, but really, there were three of you and there was only one Superman. General Zod was the brains of the Operation, Ursa was the beauty of the Operation and Non – you were the brawn. If you had been stuck in a 1 square foot glass Apartment with two other people and an apparent lack of running water wouldn’t you give it your best brawn(y) effort to ensure you don’t have to go back to those conditions?

So, Terence Stamp is in a film called The Adjustment Bureau (TaB – why wasn’t it the official soft drink of this movie?). This film was a strangely religious view of free will and destiny. I realize that movie reviews are not really supposed to give away the secrets of a film, but I don’t know of a better way to discuss the film other than to pull back some of the curtain on the plot.

The story is actually very simple. TaB is based on a 1950’s Science Fiction short story. I think the short story description is very important because the idea is perfect for a thirty minute episode of The Twilight Zone. Unlike comedies though, this movie didn’t just stretch a thirty minute idea into two hours. TaB actually added a full dramatic Love Story to the idea. The Love Story is so full that I think it could be argued that this film tricks unsuspecting audience members (Men) into enjoying a Chick-flick under the guise of a Science Fiction & Action movie.

The Science Fiction portion of the story involves the life of David Norris, a New York Congressman running for Senate and making out with British women in the men’s room. In the process of living his life, Norris (played by Matt Damon) accidentally witnesses the actions of The Adjustment Bureau. TaB are Angels who keep humans from doing anything stupid and alter their reality when they get off track (of course, the irony here is the thought that with all of the craziness in the world this is us “not doing anything stupid”).

The Love Story portion of the story involves Norris and Elise (the British woman from the men’s room – played by Emily Blunt) who reject their pre-selected path, risking everything to be together. I thought it would have been appropriate at some point for Norris to break out some Hawkeye: “You be strong, you survive…You stay alive no matter what occurs. I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far. I will find you.”

The Action portion of the story involves the running that Norris and Elise have to do to find each other, get together and stay together. I wish I had more to say about the Action in this film but it is mainly just running. Norris walks, jogs and sprints through the streets of New York City like Orenthal James trying to get to the Hertz counter.

So, for Norris to end up with Elise he has to learn the secrets of TaB via a sympathetic and over worked Angel named Harry. Harry explains to Norris that Angles keep humans on their pre-selected life path mainly through the use of a journal and the doors from Monsters Inc. Angels, and presumably their boss – The Chairman (the non-religious reference), do have an unusual blind spot in water. When Harry explained that Angels cannot observe humans in and around water I got a little bit confused. I could have understood if it had been fire that the Angels could not handle but why water?

Besides the water, the main religious contradiction of this movie occurred in the path to the movie’s dramatic ending. It turns out that the powers of Angels are separated from humans by the Fedora. Yep. Fedora. As Angel Harry (he might prefer Harry Angel - I am not sure) explained to Norris, Angels are just like humans except they live a little longer and can pass through doors in a hat. When Angels have their hat on any door can become a short cut to their ultimate destination. So, when Norris needs to utilize the door system to find Elise what does he do? He borrows Harry’s hat.

The Chairman sets a path of destiny for Norris (and Elise) and appoints a whole team of Angels to insure that path is followed but allows one of his Angels to loan out the source of their teleportation power to a human. I am sure the Chairman is busy but shouldn’t there have been some quality control on these hats? I have to remember four unique passwords on my computer just to get to the screen where I can double click on my email icon and enter another password to access messages which generally say (in order of importance): “why are these birds so angry,” “what time is lunch today,” and “will you help me make a video to apply for The Real World” and yet anyone with a seven and a quarter inch head can access the Angel network?

I am sure you can figure out where this story ends up. The hat allows Norris to ultimately find Elise and his determination persuades The Chairman to re-write the future to allow the paths of our two characters to ultimately intersect. I was a little surprised that the movie did not end at that point. The ten minutes of meetings, hearings, Angel comments and voice votes on the future use and control of the Angel hats (while important) seemed excessive.

So, to wrap this one up, no matter what your destiny may be, run. If you can, run when it is raining. And, if it is raining, you might as well wear a hat.

Warren