The Adjustment Bureau
Universal Pictures | Release Date: March 4, 2011
7.1
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 479 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
304
Mixed:
144
Negative:
31
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User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
7
YorkManApr 19, 2016
If all a film needed was a good idea, then The Adjustment Bureau (TAB) would get 10/10......
Unfortunately, a good idea is somewhat meaningless if the narrative that (eventually) explains it is unbelievably forced, and the resolution is soIf all a film needed was a good idea, then The Adjustment Bureau (TAB) would get 10/10......
Unfortunately, a good idea is somewhat meaningless if the narrative that (eventually) explains it is unbelievably forced, and the resolution is so utterly empty that you have more questions than answers.

So, TAB has a great premise, but doesn't really run with it (no pun intended, as the film devotes considerable run-time to people running), it's merely hyperbole which on one hand you can understand.... But on the other hand comes across as trying to be (far) too clever for its own good.

It's not a bad film, by any means. Matt Damon is dependable as always, Emily Blunt smoulders as her ample cleavage demands all your focus, Anthony Mackie provides the 'get out of jail free' card that the ending so heavily depends upon, and British stalwart Terence Stamp steals every scene he's in.
The direction is pretty much by the numbers, in terms of how the script requires things to appear on screen, but it could have been so much more adventurous in how it visualised the location hopping antics that drive the finale.
Musically, the score is unmemorable. I've just finished watching the film, and can't remember any of the music that was in it!

Overall...... If you've not seen it, definitely check it out. It's worth a watch, and it's entertaining enough. It just doesn't scale the heights that it could (and probably should) have reached. Which is a shame.… Expand
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0
KrutchesFeb 24, 2016
This is a rip off of Dark City. Blatantly. The same city. The same map. The same hats. The same creepy white faces. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
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5
eva3si0nSep 28, 2019
The Adjustment Bureau seems like a really good film by the beginning. At the beginning, there is even a sense of the invisible hand of power of a secret organization, and then the usual B-movie begins, which with every minute isThe Adjustment Bureau seems like a really good film by the beginning. At the beginning, there is even a sense of the invisible hand of power of a secret organization, and then the usual B-movie begins, which with every minute is disappointing. Ultimately you watch the film by inertia, only to learn the ending. And the potential of the plot was no less than that of the same Incident.… Expand
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9
Dragonfly44Jan 27, 2019
Awesome premise and great chemistry between Emily Blunt and Matt Damon. Quite exilerating when things began to pick up and was able to keep me on the edge of my seat without any ‘action’

Rating - 93%
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5
DawdlingPoetNov 28, 2021
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This movie felt quite confused in a few ways - it has elements of numerous genres within it but im not sure if it entirely fits into any one of them. These would include science fiction, action and romance. As far as romance is concerned, I felt it was a bit too sappy, although im not against romance movies but when I thought about it, that element was probably the weakest overall. Its hard to quite explain why but I suppose its partly due to a lack of character development - I wasn't really entirely sure why David was so keen to be with Elisa, considering she seemed a bit blasé, if that makes sense?. It felt a bit unrealistic somehow as far as that side of it is concerned and I was more interested in discovering more about the so called bureau and what they knew about the two of them and moreso how they work, than Davids infatuation with her.

The members of the supposed bureau can be identified throughout the movie as wearing old style grey/black rimmed hats and suits (jacket, shirt and tie), which you could say give them something of a sinister, gang or gangster style look about them. Within the plot, there's one particular member who decides to help David, by providing some details about this quite sinister and shady oranisation and thats when it reminded me of one of my favourite movie, by the name of City of Angels. I suppose this is almost like the opposite to that, at least the members of the bureau are viewed with much suspicion and seem much more sinister than angels are. Somewhat unsurprisingly given City of Angels has been one of my favourite movies since I was a young teen, I wouldn't rate this title as anywhere near as good as that but then I'm maybe biased.

Back to this movie and one of the main issues or themes covered in this movie is that of free will, which is spoken about towards the end of the movie - clearly the story challenges our idea of free will and may make you question how much you truly have - in a sense, it could make you rather paranoid I suppose. At one point, there's mention of what happened when the world went bad when humans were trusted with 100% their own free will and adjustments were no longer made but that supposedly had to change. Even though I realise this is clearly purely fiction, I couldn't help but think how implausible some aspects of the story seemed to be, so I feel thats a negative point to the movie but I did find it quite watchable and I suppose entertaining throughout as well. I feel I was left with questions, like the main character David is as well I suppose - it is rather baffling generally, I was left trying to get my head around the basic storyline although there are scenes where questions are posed to key characters within this supposed bureau and more is revealed but your still left unsure about some key things and it comes across very much (as mentioned previously) as secretive and somehow rather sinister.

I felt that there was too much emphasis on Elise's character, when personally I'd prefer to have found out more on Davids backround, family and past and of course more about the bureau. It seemed like such a narrow scope, all things considered. Having said that, I thought the concept was interesting and I did find myself empathising with David and being curious on his behalf to discover the outcome and see the two of them defy the bureau's actions.

Also I felt that the ending was rather rushed, all things considered. I thought the outcome itself was fine but perhaps a bit too abrupt, as I hadn't realised it was over until the credits started to roll (you've got to love when that happens, right?).

Content wise, there's minimal strong language and violence - probably the overall menacing theme is the most important thing to be aware of, when deciding if its suitable viewing for younger people. It has a 12 rating, which I'd say is about right - its unliklely to offend teenagers, other than those who watch it hoping for a good action/drama/sci-fi flick and aren't so keen on romantic subplots(!). The acting is nothing to write home about but I suppose it wasn't awful either, just about average I suppose. I cringed a little bit at Emily's character, Elise, as it seems such a sort of sexist stereotype, with her being the eye candy for men, a pretty ballerina but then I'm not much of a girly girl, so, um, there you go lol she does act a bit rebellious in one scene however though, which was somewhat nice to see!.… Expand
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8
AWESOM-0Mar 9, 2020
It’s a little sappy but it’s also very good. I guess if you’re a cynical bastard you might not like it.
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5
JJ2FAS4UDec 30, 2021
----------------------------------5.4/10-----------------------------------
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