The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau is a 2011 American science fiction romantic thriller film written and directed by George Nolfi, based on the 1954 Philip K. Dick short story "Adjustment Team".[3] Starring Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, and Terence Stamp, the film tells the story of a United States congressman who discovers that what appear to be chance events in his life are controlled by a mysterious, powerful group. After an event not planned by these controllers occurs – a romantic encounter with a dancer – he struggles against their manipulation despite their promise of a great future for him.

The Adjustment Bureau
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGeorge Nolfi
Produced by
Screenplay byGeorge Nolfi
Based on"Adjustment Team"
by Philip K. Dick
Starring
Music byThomas Newman
CinematographyJohn Toll
Edited byJay Rabinowitz
Production
company
  • Media Rights Capital
  • Gambit Pictures
  • Electric Shepherd Productions
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • February 14, 2011 (2011-02-14) (Ziegfeld Theatre)
  • March 4, 2011 (2011-03-04) (United States)
Running time
106 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50.2 million[1][2]
Box office$127.9 million[1]

The film was released on April 3, 2011. It was premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre on February 14, 2011, and received positive reviews from critics, who praised Damon's performance and his chemistry with Blunt. It grossed $127 million against a production budget of $50 million.

Plot

In 2006, Brooklyn Congressman David Norris unsuccessfully runs for the United States Senate. While rehearsing his concession speech, David meets Elise Sellas. They share a passionate kiss, though he does not get her name. Inspired by her, David delivers an unusually candid speech that is well-received, making him a favorite for the 2010 race.

A month later, David prepares for a new job. At Madison Square Park, near David's home, a man named Harry Mitchell receives an assignment from his superior Richardson. Harry is to spill coffee on David's shirt by 7:05 AM so that David will miss his bus. However, Harry falls asleep; David boards the bus, meets Elise again and gets her phone number.

David arrives at work early and finds everyone in the building frozen and being examined by unfamiliar men. David attempts to escape, but is incapacitated and taken to a warehouse. Richardson reluctantly reveals to David the existence of the "Adjustment Bureau." As its employees, Richardson and his men ensure people's lives proceed following "the Plan," a complex document Richardson attributes to "the Chairman."[4][5] The Bureau confiscates and destroys the note that contains Elise's phone number, and David is warned that if he reveals the existence of the Bureau to anyone else, he will be "reset"—akin to being lobotomized. He is not meant to meet Elise again.

Three years later, David again encounters Elise after seeing her from a bus window; he tells her he has spent three years riding that bus to work, hoping to see her. He learns that she dances for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. The Bureau tries to stop them from starting a relationship by altering their schedules and preventing them from meeting. David races across town, fighting the Bureau's abilities to "control his choices" to ensure he will meet Elise. During the chase the Bureau uses ordinary doorways to travel instantly to distant locations.

Senior official Thompson takes over David's adjustment and takes him to the warehouse, where David argues he has the right to choose his own path. Thompson says humanity received free will after the height of the Roman Empire, but then brought the Dark Ages upon itself. The Bureau took control after five centuries of barbarism, and created the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the scientific revolution. When free will was granted in 1910, it resulted in World War I, the Great Depression, Fascism, the Holocaust, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, forcing the Bureau to retake control. Thompson strongly implies that without Elise's influence David will become President of the United States, while Elise will become a world-famous dancer and choreographer, and that being together will ruin both of their futures. Thompson causes Elise to sprain her ankle at a performance to demonstrate his power, and David abandons her at the hospital to save them from the fate Thompson described.

Eleven months later, Charlie, as David's campaign manager and lifelong best friend, tells David of Elise's imminent wedding as he campaigns again. Harry contacts David via secret meetings in the rain or near water, which prevents the Bureau from tracking them. Harry reveals that Thompson exaggerated the negative consequences of David and Elise's relationship, and teaches David how to use doors to teleport and evade the Bureau's adjustments. Just before the wedding David reaches Elise, reveals the Bureau's existence to her, and shows her how he travels through doors. The Bureau pursues them across New York City. When they emerge at the Statue of Liberty David decides to find the Chairman to end the chase, and Elise chooses to accompany him. They enter the Bureau's offices with agents in pursuit.

After a chase in the building David and Elise find themselves surrounded on the observation deck of the GE Building. They declare their love and kiss before David can be reset. When they let go of each other, the Bureau members have gone. Thompson appears, but is interrupted by Harry, who shows him, and then David and Elise, their revised Plan from the Chairman: one that is blank starting from the current moment. Harry commends them for their devotion to each other, then says they are free to leave. David and Elise walk down the street as Harry speculates that the Chairman's goal may be to prepare humanity to "one day" write its own Plan.

Cast

Production

In early drafts, the character Norris was changed from a real-estate salesman, as in the short story, to an up-and-coming U.S. Congressman.[6]

Financing

Media Rights Capital funded the film and then auctioned it to distributors, with Universal Studios putting in the winning bid for $62 million.[2][7][8] Variety reported Damon's involvement on February 24, 2009,[9] and Blunt's on July 14, 2009.[7] The film was released on March 4, 2011.[10]

Filming

Nolfi worked with John Toll as his cinematographer. Shots were planned in advance with storyboards, but changed often during shooting to fit the conditions of the day. The visual plan for the film was to keep the camerawork smooth using a dolly or crane and have controlled formal shots when the Adjustment Bureau was in full control, with things becoming more loose and using hand-held cameras when the story becomes less controlled.[11]

The final scene on the "Top of the Rock" rooftop observation deck of the GE Building in Rockefeller Center was filmed four months after the rest of the film had completed shooting and has a different ending from the original.[12]

Music

The score was composed by Thomas Newman, with two songs by Richard Ashcroft ("Future's Bright" for the opening sequence; "Are You Ready?" for the closing credits).

Original ending

According to Nolfi there was an alternate ending, later revealed as featuring actress Shohreh Aghdashloo as the Chairman:[13][14]

[I]nitially I was going to show the Chairman. The Chairman was going to be in female form, too. Ultimately, while making the movie, I realized how important it was going to be for people to put their own beliefs in the end and not foreclose that. I don’t think the scene would have foreclosed [people's] beliefs, but the more I could hint at it and the less explicit I could be about it, it wasn’t enough to hint about it in the dialog and have an actual person there acting it. I just had to not show the Chairman, so I ended up not going that way.

In her 2013 memoir, Aghdashloo said Nolfi gave her a different explanation. He blamed Universal Pictures for the change to the ending:[14][15]

I loved that role. As actors, we all know we're at the mercy of the editing table, but not to this extent, never had I experienced it. The director, George Nolfi, decided I should play God. Everything went great until I got a call from the director who was asking to have lunch with me. He was on the verge of crying. He said, the distribution company believes that you cannot play this role.

Religious themes

Some reviewers identified Abrahamic theological implications, such as an omnipotent and omniscient God,[16][17] the concepts of free will and predestination,[18][19] and elements from the descent to the underworld (a mytheme dating back at least to the story of Eurydice and Orpheus).[20] Moreover, Cathleen Falsani said that the Chairman represents God,[21] while his caseworkers are angels.[22][23] The director of the film, George Nolfi, stated that the "intention of this film is to raise questions."[24]

Release

The film had its world premiere on February 14, 2011, at the Ziegfeld Theatre on 141 West 54th Street in New York City. Writer/director George Nolfi was in attendance along with the cast, including Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.[25]

Box office

In its opening weekend in the United States (March 4–6, 2011), The Adjustment Bureau grossed $21,157,730, which was the second most of any film that weekend, behind Rango. Its total worldwide gross is $127,869,379 as of December 18, 2011.[1]

Critical response

The review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 71% based on reviews from 259 critics, and a weighted average of 6.6/10. The website's critical consensus states, "First-time writer/director George Nolfi struggles to maintain a consistent tone, but The Adjustment Bureau rises on the strong, believable chemistry of its stars."[26] At Metacritic, the film has a score of 60 out of 100 based on 41 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[27]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars, describing it as "a smart and good movie that could have been a great one, if it had been a little more daring. I suspect the filmmakers were reluctant to follow its implications too far."[28] The New York Times called the film "a fast, sure film about finding and keeping love across time and space... [that] has brightened the season with a witty mix of science-fiction metaphysics and old-fashioned romance."[20] For the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner, United States President Barack Obama, while making humorous remarks about his sagging approval rating, said, "I've even let down my key core constituency: movie stars. Just the other day, Matt Damon...said he was disappointed in my performance. Well, Matt, I just saw The Adjustment Bureau, so right back atcha, buddy."[29]

Home media

The Adjustment Bureau was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on June 21, 2011.[30] The film was the top selling release for its opening week.[31]

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References
  1. "The Adjustment Bureau". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  2. The Adjustment Bureau at The Numbers.
  3. Phillips, Michael (March 3, 2011). "'Adjustment Bureau': Mastering fate and romance". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  4. "'Adjustment Bureau': The surreal feels real". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved October 18, 2007. Are you angels?” he asks Richardson. “We’ve been called lots of things,” is the reply. “Think of us as case workers.”
  5. "Matt Damon Defies God's Insidious Bureaucracy in The Adjustment Bureau". D Magazine. Retrieved October 18, 2007. You see, "the Chairman" (as the film calls the being responsible for managing the entire universe) has dispatched "case workers" to keep humanity moving according to his carefully choreographed plan.
  6. McCarthy, Steve Todd (February 25, 2011). "Movie review: "The Adjustment Bureau"". Reuters.
  7. Fleming, Michael (July 14, 2009). "Emily Blunt boards 'Bureau'". Variety. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
  8. Kaufman, Amy (March 3, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Rango' expected to shoot down the competition". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  9. Fleming, Michael (February 24, 2009). "Studios weigh star packages". Variety. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  10. "The Adjustment Bureau". Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  11. Weintraub, Steve (February 26, 2011). "Writer-Director George Nolfi Exclusive Interview The Adjustment Bureau". collider.com. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  12. Williams, Ileana (March 9, 2011). "Ileana's Movie Review: The Adjustment Bureau". mix949.com. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  13. Giroux, Jack (March 3, 2011). "Interview: George Nolfi Talks 'The Adjustment Bureau'". Film School Rejects. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  14. Lacher, Irene (June 1, 2013). "Shohreh Aghdashloo, from Tehran to Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  15. Aghdashloo, Shohreh (2013). The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines. New York, NY: Harper. p. ??. ISBN 9780062009807.
  16. "The Adjustment Bureau". Catholic News Service. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2007. Though this is certainly not a film for young people—in addition to the quasi-theological issues underlying the story, David and Elise's liaison becomes physical prematurely—the metaphysical elements of the plot can be interpreted by mature viewers in a way that squares with Judeo-Christian faith.
  17. "Finally, an Action Thriller for Religious Thinkers". The Jewish Journal. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2007. Even rarer are those films that tackle theological dilemmas, like the age-old apparent contradiction of free will vs. determinism. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all believe in an all-powerful and all-knowing God who controls everything that happens in the World. What, then, is the role of our own decisions? Does man truly possess free will, or does he only have the "appearance" of free will? Did I truly decide of my own free will to marry my wife, or did God orchestrate a complex set of circumstances that forced my hand and caused me to fall in love with this wonderful woman in order to fulfill His unknowable Divine plan? This is precisely the theme of the new film, The Adjustment Bureau (Grace Films Media, now playing.
  18. "The Adjustment Bureau: Fate vs. Free Will, Matt Damon Style". The Christian Post. Retrieved October 18, 2007. How much power exactly do the agents of fate hold over someone's life? Can free will ever win over fate? And is it free will or fate that orchestrates action? Such are the questions that come to mind throughout George Nolfi's newest film, "The Adjustment Bureau," based on the short story by Phillip K. Dick.
  19. "The Adjustment Bureau: Fate vs. Free Will, Matt Damon Style". The Christian Post. Retrieved October 18, 2007. Free Will vs. Predestination: What's Matt Damon Got to Do with It? "It's not this or that," responded Detweiler. "Gamers understand this very well, this tension between predestination and free will. It seems like they may be able to live better with that tension."
  20. Dargis, Manohla (March 3, 2011). "Creepy People With a Plan, and a Couple on the Run". NYT Critics' Pick. The New York Times. Retrieved July 12, 2012. Mr. Nolfi...appears to have turned to the classics for guidance, specifically Orphée, Jean Cocteau's sublime 1949 version of the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus. From the costumes of Richardson's goggled henchmen to the way David tells Elise to hold onto him so that they can pass through otherworldly portals, Mr. Nolfi samples from Orphée to his advantage, adding a layer of pleasure for cinephiles while keeping the mood up.
  21. Falsani, Cathleen (March 8, 2011). "The Adjustment Bureau: Does God Change Our Minds, or Do We Change God's?". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 18, 2007. The Chairman—i.e., God—has written the stories of our lives and the Big Story of the World.
  22. "'Adjustment Bureau': The surreal feels real". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved October 18, 2007. Are you angels?" he asks Richardson. "We've been called lots of things," is the reply. "Think of us as case workers."
  23. "Matt Damon Defies God's Insidious Bureaucracy in The Adjustment Bureau". D Magazine. Retrieved October 18, 2007. You see, "the Chairman" (as the film calls the being responsible for managing the entire universe) has dispatched "case workers" (angels—without wings, but with magical hats) to keep humanity moving according to his carefully choreographed plan.
  24. "The Adjustment Bureau: Fate vs. Free Will, Matt Damon Style". The Christian Post. Retrieved October 18, 2007. "The intention of this film is to raise questions—that's what art should do," commented Nolfi about his soon-to-be released motion picture at an earlier Pasadena screening. And that, Mr. Nolfi, it definitely did.
  25. "Universal Pictures presents the World premiere of The Adjustment Bureau at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City Monday, February 14, 2011". CNBC. February 8, 2011.
  26. "The Adjustment Bureau (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  27. "The Adjustment Bureau". Metacritic. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  28. Ebert, Roger (March 2, 2011). "The Adjustment Bureau". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  29. Barack Obama (April 30, 2011). 2011 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (Speech). Washington, DC. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  30. Gaul, Lou (June 20, 2011). "'Adjustment Bureau' arrives Tuesday on home video". Beaver County Times. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011.
  31. Arnold, T.K. (June 29, 2011). "'The Adjustment Bureau' Tops DVD, Blu-ray Sales Charts". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011.
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