2011-08-02

Movie Review: The Adjustment Bureau

A few days ago, I watched this movie with some family members who were over. I meant to write this before, but didn't because of the other posts I put out.
The basic premise of the plot is that the main character played by Matt Damon is in love with the main girl, and an organization called the Adjustment Bureau which controls all human actions is tasked with keeping them apart at all costs. Their distinguishing characteristics are wearing hats and (while wearing said hats) being able to essentially teleport from one location to a totally separate one through a door.
The whole movie just fell flat for me; it seemed like a bad mashup of The Matrix and a rom-com. The only part that made me smile was when Matt Damon's character goes on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (with Jon Stewart actually playing himself in that movie); as an avid fan of that show (and, by the way, of The Colbert Report), I was pleasantly surprised to see just how far that show has come in popular culture, to the point where it is portrayed even in movies on the same level as news behemoths like certain programs on NBC and CNN. One other thing that amused me was that the warning for its PG-13 rating told of sexual themes and "a violent scene". I believe the former referred to the romantic overtures between the two main characters, while the latter referred to the brief car accident where there is a quick shot of a bloodied survivor who helps Matt Damon's character go where he needs to go. Otherwise, I don't think this deserved a PG-13 rating. Either that, or I have been desensitized to violent imagery and sexual themes.
Overall, this movie doesn't do it for me, and I don't recommend it.