DVD - The Adjustment Bureau

We go through life thinking that everything that happens to us is just as it comes. That step you tripped up on in the morning? You just weren't looking where you were going. When you wrote the wrong word in an essay and everything goes out of context? You just weren't trying hard enough. Yes, pretty much everything you do basically comes down to you, yourself, and no-one else. The Adjustment Bureau, however, takes a look at a different side of the story. That step? Somebody planned that to happen. That silly mistake that makes everything sound like gobbledy-goop? Yup, somebody planned that. Just who could plan such a thing? The men of 'The Adjustment Bureau', who walk around wearing suits and hats, carrying little books which determine everyones fate. Everyones lives seem to be going swimmingly for this team, until aspiring Senator David (Matt Damon) meets ballerina Elise (Emily Blunt). This was not supposed to happen. So now, the adjustment team have their work cut out for them as they try to keep David and Elise apart, and no matter how hard David fights to keep his girl, the team always have a plan to make him think twice about that.

The Adjustment Bureau is a film I have been looking forward to ever since I first heard about it. This was probably because I was interested in seeing how the pairing of Matt Damon and Emily Blunt went. I love them both as actors, but I never thought I'd see the day when they decided to make a film together. And let me tell you, they were a perfect pairing. A great deal of heart and emotion is needed to help this film work; as the audience really needs to root for the lovers otherwise the good premise would fall apart. Right from the get go, Damon and Blunt just have it. Damon has his sensible charm, and Blunt has her wild and lovable charm. Together, they are a really believable couple, which works out for the best. And I guess its good that Blunt has finally got a good movie to her name after a year or so of squandering her talents in such films as Gulliver's Travels, The Wolfman and Wild Target.

As much as I enjoyed watching the chemistry between Damon and Blunt (and believe me, I want to watch 100 more films with them in it), I think this film took a long time to get to it's actual point, and had a very uneven tone to it. For the most part, this film is a romance, and only in the last act does it decide to become a proper sci-fi/action flick. This didn't bother me that much though, because there was plenty of other material in it to get me thinking. Of course, there were all of those questions about fate and the forces that control it. But the one thing that stuck in my mind the most was about the work that this adjustment team does. Thompson (Terrence Stamp), who's the 'chairman' (kinda like God...this has a lot more religious themes than you'd think) of the team, explains to David that when they gave us humans free will, we started something awful. But you know what would be really awful? Living a life controlled by someone else. Therefore, our personalities can't be completely our own, our hard work isn't a result of us alone, and we have little to be proud of when something goes right for us. Having our lives be the result of something else is just a little sad, don't you think?

First time director George Nolfi did a phenomenally good job with his debut. Like Elise's ballet, this film is very contemporary. There is just something about it that seems fresh for a film of its stature. Nolfi, however, isn't a stranger to big Hollywood action flicks. He wrote Timeline, Ocean's Twelve and The Sentinel, but more recently, he wrote The Bourne Ultimatum, arguably the best out the series. Here, Nolfi bases his film on a story by renowned sci-fi writer Phillip K. Dick, and brings lots of questions that are open to be answered, a different sort of vision on the world and a romance to root for. He succeeds in making a smart film - it wouldn't be very exciting to someone who isn't open-minded - which is just a pleasure to watch until the ball really gets rolling at the end. There it becomes the tense thriller it should have been right the way through. But again, I don't really mind that this wasn't all that thrilling, the romance between David and Elise was more than enough. Plus, I really liked what the adjustment team had to say about our world.

THE VERDICT: Matt Damon and Emily Blunt star as star-crossed lovers, and they are a couple who will make you believe that they are lovers. The film itself is more romance than thriller, but it provides a different outlook on the world through a group of suited men wearing hats, which is always interesting.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

Top 10 movies I really want to see this year.

You may be expecting a list filled with the best 2011 as a year has to offer. Alas, that is not the case. Most of these movies are ones you probably saw last year, but I'll only be getting to see this year (when they come out on DVD, no less, because I'm so youthful), since New Zealand sucks.

10. Source Code

Expected NZ release date: Undated.

While I didn't entirely get the premise from the trailer (probably a good thing), I am really looking forward to seeing the next movie from Moon director Duncan Jones. The fact that it also stars the lovely Vera Farmiga (notably missing last year compared to her busy year before) has got my ticket already booked. And it should be nice to see Jake Gyllenhaal not being a beefcake prince or a viagra salesman...just back to what he does best, being a hero.

9. The Fighter

Expected NZ release date: January 20

If only this film had been released sometime after August this year, then I would have been able to go and see it no sweat. But nooooooo, gotta wait for it to be on DVD, which, at earliest, is May. I have to wait that long to see the best performed film of the year? Don't even tell me how great Christian Bale is. I might just cry.

8. Friends with Benefits



Expected NZ release date: October 13
"What?!" I hear you cry. Hey, this list is filled with awards bait and thrillers, so why can't I have a romantic comedy in there? Friends with Benefits looks like the best of the lot (not to be confused with Natalie Portman's No Strings Attached). Mila Kunis and Justin 'I'm an actor now' Timberlake take the lead role in Easy A helmer Will Gluck's latest, which also stars Emma Stone, Patricia Clarkson and Woody Harrelson. See? Can't be too bad.

7. The Adjustment Bureau

Expected NZ release date: March 3

Hey wait, wasn't this movie supposed to come out last year? Hopefully this movie is good, because God knows Emily Blunt needs it, after last years releases (The Wolfman, Wild Target, Gulliver's Travels). If it's based on a Phillip K. Dick story and has Matt Damon in the lead role, it's sure to work, right? I don't know, but I want THE EMILY BLUNT back!

6. The Tree of Life 

Expected NZ release date: Undated.

Is there another film coming out this year that's more exciting? No. Everyone with a filmic bone in their body wants to see this.

5. 127 Hours

Expected NZ release date: February 10

Bloody Danny Boyle choosing that funky music to go with his trailer filled with awesome visuals getting me excited for this one. And then, of course, since a man chops his arm off, the censors get afraid that I might follow suit after watching this movie because I'm so young, and they slap an R16 on it. So that's a June watch for me, then? I love you until then, James Franco...

4. Hanna

Expected NZ release date: June 14

Those comparisons between this and Kick-Ass' Hit-girl are incredibly lazy. Yes, there is a young girl killing machine (played by the always amazing Saoirse Ronan) who is smarter than the average bear, but that's about as far as it goes. Eric Bana comes back to our screens as a non time traveller, and Cate Blanchett also comes along for the ride. If she's there, I'm there. Plus it's directed by Joe Wright, who has most notably dabbled in period romance (Pride and Prejudice, Atonement), so this should be an interesting move.

3. Never Let Me Go

Expected NZ release date: March 17

Never Let Me Go might send me on a journey to the most expensive arthouse-esque cinema nearby for the first time in my life, mainly because I've waited so bloody long to see this movie come out. Yeah, Carey Mulligan and the noticably absent Keira Knightley are in it, but you know the real reason I want to see this. ANDREW GARFIELD. ANDREW GARFIELD. ANDREW GARFIELD. Okay, the story sounds scary enough, plus it's written by Alex Garland, so I'm in. But ANDREW GARFIELD is in it!

2. Black Swan

Expected NZ release date: January 27

Again, won't be seeing this in it's theatrical release, you know why. Damn, I've wanted to see this ever since the first trailer came out way back in August. Now Natalie Portman's getting all this Oscar buzz, I wanna see it more. Me and psychological thrillers usually go hand in hand, so this is really a no brainer.

1. Sucker Punch

Expected NZ release date: March 24

Yeah, I'm pretty sure guys are the only ones who are supposed to be uber-excited about this as it has all those hot chicks with machine guns. But I'm geeking out already for this one, mainly because I love Zack Snyder's work and he explained this as having 'multi levels of reality'. Inception, anyone? I'm hoping to God that this isn't a flop, because the trailers (with all their slow-mo and uber-awesomeness) make it look so cool! Come on Zack Snyder, you can do it!

What are you most looking forward to seeing in the coming year? Comment below!