The Adjustment Bureau

What if we didn’t have a choice? What if our lives had already been pre-planned by unknown agents of fate? Adapted from a short story from sci-fi king Phillip K. Dick, and tip-toeing quickly around the various theological and religious questions that this premise raises, George Nolfi’s The Adjustment Bureau attempts to answer these questions in a thriller cum romance that sees two lovers fighting against their respective destinies.

When Matt Damon’s US Senate candidate meets Emily Blunt’s enchanting ballerina, he falls for her in an instant. When he accidently stumbles upon her again shortly after, it is clear that they should live happily-ever-after. Only they shouldn’t - It isn’t in The Plan. We are swiftly introduced to the shadowy and all-powerful Bureau, an organization that has been meticulously planning all of our lives from the moment we are born to the day of our death. They leap into action and attempt to split the pair before the path of all human life changes forever.

The action is breathless and well-orchestrated, and the behatted agents of the Bureau make for ominous and original villains. Yet the beating heart of the film is the romance between Damon and Blunt. We have to believe that it is a union worth risking both their futures for, and thankfully, they convince totally, delivering the best chemistry in a sci-fi since sparks flew between WALL-E and EVE in Pixar’s modern classic. Go and watch the film. You don’t have much of a choice really, it’s all in The Plan...

Alex Riddle