Kelly Stewart
Staff Writer

Which would be better for humanity: someone guiding out fate, or the free will to do what we chose? That is the question The Adjustment Bureau brings to the front of viewers’ minds.

Matt Damon plays David Norris, a young politician on the way to being a senator. He meets contemporary ballet dancer Elise (played by Emily Blunt) by accident on the night of his big loss to an opponent. The two fall in love almost immediately and, although they only know each other by their first names, meet by chance yet again on the bus, and their relationship grows.

But David quickly finds out there is a mysterious force, only known as the Adjustment Bureau, out to keep the couple apart, no matter what it takes.

Very little is known about the Adjustment Bureau from the get-go, and the movie works to keep it that way. This is part of the reason why The Adjustment Bureau is so good. Not knowing exactly what the main characters are up against adds to the sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat feeling and instills an uneasy atmosphere throughout the whole movie.

What little information the movie does reveal about the Bureau is given out in stages, which means the audience constantly has to go back and fill in what was missing from the plot before. Through this, the movie makes the audience actively participate as they try to make all of the pieces slowly fall into place, and the story slowly begins to make sense.

The only complaint I have is the end is slightly anti-climactic, although even that does not do much to spoil this interesting movie.

Unfortunately, those remembering Damon from his previous role as Jason Bourne and hope for the same level of action in this movie will be disappointed. The Adjustment Bureau takes more time to develop the relationship between the two main characters, and when it finally does get to some serious action, it is a far cry from the action-packed Bourne series.

The film keeps the air of mystery the entire way through, and in the end does not even tell you everything about the Adjustment Bureau, but in a way, that is the movie’s greatest strength. The audience does not necessarily need to know everything about the movie, and it does not try to over-explain anything. The Adjustment Bureau was a sincerely an enjoyable movie keeping you on the edge of your seat.

If you like a good romance with a pretty good amount of action, this movie is for you.

Rating: B-