Movie Review – The Adjustment Bureau

I know I’m like a year late with this but Sunday night I rented “The Adjustment Bureau”.  The basic premise of the movie is that David Norris (Matt Damon) discovers that there is a “power” or agency that controls the plan for your life.  Free will is an illusion and most of the mishaps in your life are really designed to steer you toward your chosen plan.

The movie was a dramatic thriller that told the story of David, a man destined to eventually be President of the US.  By chance, he meets a woman, Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) and their connection is instant and life changing.  When David accidentally walks in on the “Bureau” changing the thought process of a friend, the curtain is pulled back to reveal an organization that controls/manages the life plan for everyone based on orders from “The Chairman”.  He is told that Elise in not part of his life plan.  David knows that he shouldn’t pursue Elise but he is compelled to be with her at all cost.

Is our own life plan really in our control?  Is our life plan really in our control?  We have all experienced times when a decision we have made backfires.  It could be a missed opportunity because we weren’t ready to receive it.  It could be something as simple as a missed phone call.  Or having to change a shirt that causes you to arrive at a destined place later than planned.  Maybe there is a reason these things happen .  Instead of cursing these inconveniences, maybe we should embrace the possibilities that it was meant to be.  If you believe in a higher power than you can take comfort in the knowledge that your steps have been pre ordered for your good.  The old cliché that “things happen for a reason” seems to be based on the fact that things really do happen or not happen for a reason.  Maybe its the romantic in me but the best part of the movie, as it is in life, is the adage that “True love conquers all.”  It is worth fighting for!

Just watch out for the guys in hats!