Day 111: "We're here to keep you on plan. That's all we're authorized to do."

Based on Phillip K. Dick's (one of my all-time favorite authors) short story "Adjustment Team," The Adjustment Bureau does its best to retain the overbearing paranoia and edginess that his stories are famous for.  As far as cinematic adaptations of Dick's works go, The Adjustment Bureau falls squarely in the middle, between the spectacular Blade Runner (based on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep") and the abysmal Paycheck (based on the short story of the same name, in my opinion, his best).  This is a "what if" story.  "What if" God decided that his church should be based on a covert government organization, "what if" God's Plan was an actual Plan that was being laid out and enforced with a ruthless efficiency, and "what if" his angels and messengers were a "Men In Black" organization that ran the world to keep free will out of the people.  As I said, very paranoid stuff, but very interesting as well.  What would happen when two people who are not "supposed" to be together find each other anyway and fall in love?  How far would "The Chairman" (read: God) go to keep them apart without altering his precious Plan?  Watch the movie and see.  It does slow down at times, and is not the usual science fiction that audiences have come to expect from Dick based films, but it's an interesting, conversation-starting story.

Starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt as the forbidden lovers, the two do a good job throwing themselves into the crazy situation they find themselves in.  Damon, as the senatorial hopeful, conveys wonderfully the paranoia of his particular lot.  Terence Stamp is, again, a blast to watch as the top agent Thompson, who is brought in to keep Damon and Blunt apart.

One part The Matrix, one part Inception, and a whole lot of initial confusion, his movie really looks hard at the question of free will versus guidance by unseen forces.  If this was based on any other story, it would have been about God's will at odds with our will, but the particular spin that Dick puts on the struggle keeps it from becoming preachy.  A definite "thinker" The Adjustment Bureau is worth a look.  7.25/10.

See you tomorrow, and GO WATCH A MOVIE!!