The Adjustment Bureau

An exhilarating balancing act, at once a science-fiction romp, a paranoid thriller and a philosophical treatise. more

The main thing that keeps audiences glued throughout its running time is that it's a love story, easily one of the best American love stories of the past year. more

One reason filmmakers like Mr. Nolfi seem attracted to Philip K. Dick's work, beyond the brilliance of its ideas, is that his unembellished writing style leaves them room to make the stories visually their own. more

Equal parts playful, sophisticated and engrossing, The Adjustment Bureau is like the first songbird of spring, signaling that the winter of our collective brain-freeze is over and it's safe to go back to the multiplex. more

If the head of the bureau is God, then why is he played by Terence Stamp and not Morgan Freeman? more

Nolfi's dialogue is lean and often funny, while Damon and Blunt play appealing and clearly delineated characters drawn together by the kind of old-fashioned romantic passion you don't often see in contemporary movies. more

The action, fantasy and suspense elements are all highly enjoyable, but if the romance didn't work this movie would fall apart. more

By keeping the pace quick, the explanation light and the characters strong, Nolfi achieves the near-impossible: a film puzzle you won't mind leaving unexplained. more

George Nofi pulls off a relative rarity in his feature film debut by creating a genuinely romantic fantasy suspense thriller. more

The Adjustment Bureau is, above all, a romance of chance and chaos theory of the heart. (In this respect, some viewers will recognize it as kin to the early Gwyneth Paltrow fantasy "Sliding Doors.") more

A melding of variants in plot and theme that never reaches cohesion, 'The Adjustment Bureau' holds many separate elements that work well enough in their own efforts, without coming together to reach a higher level. It is a commendable thematic execution on free-will and spiritual guidance; a psuedo-science-fiction work that blends well into our reality; and above all a romance that holds weight. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are a magnetic partnership - easy to watch and smile with. They are the core to a film that would deviate without it and act as the standout in the many elements that the... more

If you've based your desire to see this film on the trailer, you have been misinformed. Instead of the fast paced, pulse pounding thriller with dark undertones we all expected, Adjustment can easily be characterized as simple froth. The plot of a state senator and a ballet dancer being thrust apart by divine intervention was as intricate as Inception, and yet the presentation was a mix of simplified storytelling and romantic fairytale. The over explanation of background details, unneeded flash forwards, and an overall tone that emphasizes love over logic, drained the thriller aspect right... more

This is so much more than it is credited for. Like a lot of science fiction that isn't a big budget extravaganza, The Adjustment Bureau was instantly compared to contemporaries like Inception and seen as just a lesser being. The thing is, The Adjustment Bureau is so at ease with being realistic and non-flashy that it ends up being a really great alternative to visual effects and ambitious concepts. This uses its story and characters in order to make up the science fiction elements and strives to bring you in on an emotional level. There are very little special effects, the concepts aren't... more

great movie which blended science fiction, romance, thriller, religious theme and political drama, and focusing on fate and the idea about a power beyond our control and defying it... I liked it so much more

The characters were charming. The romance was believable because of Damon's and Blunt's chemistry. Interesting concept with god and his angels being part of a bureaucratic institution that gives people the illusion of free will, but really is in favor of a planned out, not optional, and invasively enforced map for each life. The way Damon's politician character and his mysterious guardian agent (Mackie) rebel against the bureaucracy is thrilling. I like the message! The graphics and somewhat mind-bending effects were well done and fit the design of the movie wonderfully. more

I am surprised to see how many people did not appreciate this film as much as I did. This is an example of brilliant sci-fi romance that presents a simple but very well-conceived idea, clever and though-provoking, with characters that are easy to relate to. Even if only loosely based on his story, I guess Philip K. Dick would have been proud. more