The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau (2011) is adapted from Philip K. Dick's 1954 short story Adjustment Team, whose premise is that everything that happens is planned and there is a team carrying out the plan. David is running for the Senate. Before a speech he meets a woman named Elise and the two of them are instantly taken with each other. Then David is stopped by men in hats. They explain the plan: these two are not supposed to be together, each has other things to do, and she has fallen outside the design. Dick's story is cold and paranoid. The film turns it into a romantic thriller, which fully satisfies neither side: the science fiction is over explained and the romance is repeatedly interrupted by arguments about destiny. Against that, the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt carries the entire film. Their first scene together runs a few minutes and explains why everyone spends the rest of the film trying so hard. The hats are its nicest idea: the team's ability to move between doors depends on wearing them, and the reason is never explained. George Nolfi was known as a screenwriter and this is his first film as director. It runs 106 minutes. Good for: science fiction romance, films about fate, and Philip K. Dick adaptations. Less good for: the rules are inconsistent and will not survive scrutiny. Readers of Dick's story will find it too soft.