- Listen to the entire program<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n
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<\/a>Taking a deeper look at current and past films and how they relate to the world today. <\/strong><\/p>\nJonathan Kim is an independent film critic who writes and produces film reviews for Uprising and other outlets. He is a former co-producer at Brave New Films. <\/em><\/p>\n
Read his reviews online at ReThinkReviews.net<\/a>. Watch his videos at www.youtube.com\/user\/jsjkim<\/a>, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com\/ReThinkReviews<\/a>. ReThink Reviews’ theme song is by Restavrant<\/a>. <\/p>\n
The Adjustment Bureau<\/strong><\/p>\n
*SPOILER ALERT*<\/p>\n
For millennia, mankind has wondered whether humans have free will and make our own decisions, or if Fate, God or gods are really pulling the strings and controlling our unalterable destinies. In The Adjustment Bureau, Matt Damon plays David Norris, a New York congressman who is told by shadowy, fedora-wearing supernatural agents of predestination that his promising future cannot include Elise, a dancer played by Emily Blunt, who Norris meets and falls for in a chance encounter on the eve of a big election.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the strongest parts of The Adjustment Bureau are the early scenes between Norris and Elise as their paths cross over several years. The chemistry between Damon and Blunt is undeniable, making it easy to understand why Norris remains so smitten with her despite the Bureau\u2019s threats. And Damon, a close follower of politics who has donated generously to democrats, displays a facility with campaign mannerisms that makes you wonder if he\u2019ll eventually run for office.<\/p>\n
And let\u2019s call a spade a spade: the agents are basically angels in suits who take their orders from God, who the agents call the Chairman. I enjoyed the idea of God and his angels operating like the boss and employees of a bureaucracy, checking reports and tinkering with events to keep the gears of destiny running smoothly. And in a refreshing twist, the angels, led by Terence Stamp and Mad Men\u2019s John Slattery, aren\u2019t near omnipotent like the angels in the bible.<\/p>\n
Despite being able to predict and disrupt events and teleport across New York using a network of magic doors, the agents are exceedingly human, with limited powers that leave them struggling to meet deadlines, complaining about their assignments, and requiring clearance from \u201cupstairs\u201d if they need to deviate from protocol. The film is as much about the agents and their difficulties keeping Norris on his assigned path as it is about Norris\u2019 efforts to break from it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s because The Adjustment Bureau has so much going for it that it\u2019s so surprising when the film takes a precipitous, sometimes laughable slide in its last act as a sympathetic agent played by Anthony Mackie helps Norris hatch a plan to save Elisa from her assigned fate, involving a chase through New York and the revelation that the teleportation doors only work if you\u2019re wearing one of the agents\u2019 fedoras. I assume the hats are supposed to represent halos, but c\u2019mon \u2014 it\u2019s a magic freaking hat.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a shame that The Adjustment Bureau, with its sparkling performances, promising premise, and thought-provoking questions about free will, human nature, fate, and the justness of God\u2019s motives could end in such a pat, corny heap that\u2019s sure to draw negative comparisons to superior sci-fi mind-benders like Inception and The Matrix. If you are destined to see The Adjustment Bureau, I\u2019d recommend you exercise some free will and catch something else. After all, maybe that\u2019s what the Chairman wants you to do.<\/p>\n
The Adjustment Bureau is rated PG-13 and is in theaters now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taking a deeper look at current and past films and how they relate to the world today. Jonathan Kim is an independent film critic who writes and produces film reviews for Uprising and other outlets. He is a former co-producer at Brave New Films. Read his reviews online at ReThinkReviews.net. Watch his videos at www.youtube.com\/user\/jsjkim, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rethink-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uprisingradio.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}