Movies: The Adjustment Bureau

Do we have free will? Can we decide what we will do? Or is our life driven by chance or by fate? These questions have been keeping the philosophers busy for centuries. It is also the basic story of a recent movie: "The Adjustment Bureau".

The flick focuses on a politician (Matt Damon), who is running for the US Senate. His plans are crisscrossed (at least in the beginning) by a bunch of ominous people, who belong to a mysterious "adjustment bureau". These people have maps with elaborate plans that show how the lives of everybody on earth should go. The politician, of course, tries to fight them and to achieve his own plans - although they diverge from the map.

The interactions between the politician and the agents (or whatever) of the "adjustment bureau" generate a lot of surprises and are therefore entertaining. But, like most Hollywood products, the plot is also heavy constructed.

Whether the story seems reasonable or over constructed is a matter of taste. While dealing with the "bureau" the politician has to move between many places in Manhattan. Friends of New York City get  therefore a lot of sights to enjoy. This applies also for Emily Blunt, who is cast second in  the flick. "The Adjustment Bureau" was not the worst way to spend a chilly Sunday afternoon.