The Adjustment Bureau

The Flick: The Adjustment Bureau

The Cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackey, John Slattery, Jennifer Ehles (always and forever, my favorite Lizzy Bennet), Terence Stamp and John Stewart (as himself).

The Dealio: What role does free will actually play in our lives? Is it all that and a bag o' chips? Or is it, in reality, merely window dressing ('You can pick your brand of toothpaste or the color of your tie. But for the major things...Um, it's not really up to you'). That is the premise of this film- or it appears to be. A melange of genres- romance, comedy, adventure, fantasy, even parable- TAB is a well-crafted, intriguing and slightly unnerving tale, that focuses in on an Everyman, who is anything but. Damon's David Norris is a reformed bad boy politician (and I have to laugh over the things that earned him that label- he dropped trou at a college mixer and had pix taken of this momentous event, and he was involved in a bar-room brawl when he was 23 yrs old. Is it just me, or does that seem mild in comparison with things our real-life pols have been up to lately?). Into his life wanders modern ballet dancer, Elise (Emily Blunt), who captivates and inspires the soon-to lose-his-election Norris. Norris gives a whale of a kiss-off speech and people begin squaring up behind him to support his next run for public office. His reputation, as they say, is made. Unfortunately, through a miscalculation, he runs into the elusive Elise again, and this simply can not be allowed to stand. Seems as though there is an elite corps of men-no women, ya see- who, upon command of The Chairman (uh-huh), run around adjusting people who depart from their paths in life. David must make a decision: stop seeing Elise forever, or risk being permanently adjusted out of his memory. All of it. Da-da-da-DUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH!

The Grading Session: 4.719 pengies out of 5. Editing, again would have upped the pengie count. And the soundtrack was....forgettable.

Lessons Learned: First of all- and most importantly: Prendie was way ahead of the timeline for the resurgence of hat-wearing by men (don't believe me? Check out our garage, the guest room, our living room couch, the tansu...). Next, that there are certain things worth fighting for. And the payoffs for these are enormous. Lastly, this: plans are like pie shells, made to be broken. And that is not always something to regret. The fracture of one plan can enhance the resultant back-up one. But mindlessly sticking to a plan that is not working for me...that, I definitely would regret.