The Adjustment Bureau

In 2006, Brooklyn Democratic congressman David Norris unsuccessfully runs for the United States Senate. While rehearsing his concession speech in a men's bathroom, he meets Elise Sellas, who had been hiding after crashing a wedding and has overheard him, and they kiss. David does not get Elise's name before they are separated, but, inspired by her, he delivers an unusually candid speech that is well-received and makes him a favorite for the next Senate election.

A month later, a man named Harry Mitchell receives an assignment from a man named Richardson at Madison Square Park, which is near David's home. He is supposed to spill coffee on David's shirt by 7:05 a.m., forcing David to go home to change. However, Mitchell falls asleep, so David catches his intended bus and meets Elise again. Before she gets off the bus, David gets her name and phone number.

David arrives at work before he was supposed to and finds his coworkers frozen and being examined by unfamiliar men, Richardson among them. He attempts to escape, but is incapacitated and taken to a warehouse. After some debate about what to do, Richardson reveals to David the existence of the "Adjustment Bureau", an organization that ensures people's lives proceed according to "the Plan" created by "the Chairman".{{cite web|url = http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/03/2694442/the-adjustment-bureau-damon-and.html|title ='Adjustment Bureau': The surreal feels real|publisher = The Kansas City Star|quote=Are you angels?” he asks Richardson. “We’ve been called lots of things,” is the reply. “Think of us as case workers.”|access-date = October 18, 2007}}{{cite web|url = http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2011/03/matt-damon-defies-gods-insidious-bureaucracy-in-the-adjustment-bureau/|title =Matt Damon Defies God's Insidious Bureaucracy in The Adjustment Bureau |publisher = D Magazine|quote=You see, "the Chairman" (as the film calls the being who manages the entire universe) has dispatched "case workers" to keep humanity moving according to his carefully choreographed plan.|access-date = October 18, 2007}} Humans only have the appearance of free will, as the Bureau's experiments with withdrawing their influence resulted in the Dark Ages and the horrors of the first half of the twentieth century. Richardson says that David was not supposed to see Elise a second time, destroys the card with her phone number on it, and releases David, warning him that his memory and personality will be erased if he tells anyone about what he has learned.

Three years later, David spots Elise on the street. He invites her to lunch, but Charlie (David's campaign manager), after an adjustment initiated by Richardson, interrupts them with reminders that David is scheduled to announce that he is running for another Senate seat. Richardson tries to prevent David and Elise from reuniting after the announcement, but David persists and outruns Richardson to Elise's rehearsal with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, even though members of the Bureau have a way to teleport using ordinary doorways.

Richardson learns that David and Elise keep crossing paths because of remnants from earlier versions of the Plan in which they were meant to be together, and Thompson, a senior official in the Bureau, takes over David's case. He talks to David, who claims to have the right to choose his own path through life. Thompson says that being with Elise will keep David from his fate of becoming President of the United States, and being with David will keep Elise from becoming a world-famous dancer and choreographer. To prove that he is serious, Thompson causes Elise to sprain her ankle. David later abandons her at the hospital to avoid ruining their futures.

Eleven months later, Charlie, David's campaign manager and lifelong best friend, alerts David to Elise's imminent wedding. Harry surreptitiously arranges to meet with David when it is raining, since water prevents the Bureau from tracking people. As David's "caseworker", Harry feels guilty about all of the negative things he has helped to make happen to David in support of the Plan, so he teaches David how to use doors to teleport and, hopefully, reach Elise before the Bureau can stop him.

David finds Elise before the wedding and tells her about the Bureau, proving what he says by teleporting with her. Agents of the Bureau pursue them all over New York City, and, eventually, David decides to try to plead his case directly to the chairman. Elise chooses to accompany him, and they enter the Bureau's headquarters. Chased to the roof and surrounded, David and Elise declare their love and kiss. When they let go of each other, they are alone. Thompson appears, but is interrupted by Harry, who presents the chairman's newly revised Plan for David and Elise, which is blank going forward. Harry commends David and Elise for their devotion and sends them away, speculating that the chairman's true "plan" may be for people to fight for their free will and write their own destinies, like David and Elise did.

{{div col}}

• Matt Damon as David Norris
• Emily Blunt as Elise Sellas
• Anthony Mackie as Harry Mitchell
• John Slattery as Richardson
• Michael Kelly as Charlie Traynor
• Terence Stamp as Thompson
• Donnie Keshawarz as Donaldson
• Anthony Ruivivar as McCrady
• David Bishins as Burdensky
• Amanda Warren as Senior Campaign Aide
• Jennifer Ehle as Brooklyn Ice House Bartender
• Pedro Pascal as Maitre D' Paul De Santo
• Brian Haley as Police Officer Maes
• Jessica Lee Keller as Lauren, Elise's Best Friend
• Shane McRae as Adrian Troussant, Elise's Fiancé
• David Alan Basche as Thompson's Aide

{{div col end}}

Chuck Scarborough, Jon Stewart, Michael Bloomberg, James Carville, Mary Matalin, and Betty Liu appear as themselves.

In early drafts of the script, the character of Norris was changed from a real-estate salesman, as in Philip K. Dick's short story, to an up-and-coming U.S. Congressman.{{cite news

| first= Steve Todd |last=McCarthy

| date = February 25, 2011

| title = Movie review: "The Adjustment Bureau"

| url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-film-adjustmentbureau-idUSTRE71O5TY20110225

| publisher = Reuters

}}

Media Rights Capital funded the film and then auctioned it to distributors, with Universal Studios putting in the winning bid of $62 million.{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/03/movie-projector-rango-adjustment-bureau-beastly-take-me-home-tonight.html|title=Movie Projector: 'Rango' expected to shoot down the competition|last=Kaufman|first=Amy|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 3, 2011|access-date=March 3, 2011}} Variety reported Damon's involvement on February 24, 2009, and Blunt's on July 14.

Writer/director George Nolfi worked with John Toll as his cinematographer. Shots were planned with storyboards, but changed often during shooting to fit the conditions of the day. The visual plan for the film was to use a dolly or crane to keep camera movements smooth and employ a more formal style when the Adjustment Bureau is in full control, and to use hand-held cameras and allow things to become more loose when the Bureau is losing control.{{cite web

| title = Writer-Director George Nolfi Exclusive Interview The Adjustment Bureau

| first= Steve |last= Weintraub

| date = February 26, 2011

| url = https://collider.com/george-nolfi-interview-the-adjustment-bureau/77993

| work=collider.com

| access-date=April 16, 2013

}}

The climactic scene on the "Top of the Rock" rooftop observation deck of 30 Rockefeller Plaza was filmed four months after the completion of principal photography.{{cite web |url=http://mix949.com/ileanas-movie-review-the-adjustment-bureau/ |title=Ileana's Movie Review: The Adjustment Bureau |work=mix949.com |first=Ileana |last=Williams |date=March 9, 2011 |access-date=April 16, 2013}} According to Nolfi, the ending that had originally been shot featured "the Chairman":

{{Blockquote|[I]nitially I was going to show the Chairman. The Chairman was going to be in female form, too. Ultimately, while making the movie, I realized how important it was going to be for people to put their own beliefs in the end and not foreclose that. I don’t think the scene would have foreclosed [people's] beliefs, but the more I could hint at it and the less explicit I could be about it, it wasn’t enough to hint about it in the dialog and have an actual person there acting it. I just had to not show the Chairman, so I ended up not going that way.{{cite web| url= https://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/interview-george-nolfi-the-adjustment-bureau.php | title=Interview: George Nolfi Talks 'The Adjustment Bureau'| first=Jack|last= Giroux | date= March 3, 2011| publisher= Film School Rejects| access-date=December 1, 2013}}}}

The chairman was later revealed to have been portrayed by actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, who, in her 2013 memoir The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines, said Nolfi told her that Universal Pictures was to blame for the change to the ending.{{cite book| title=The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines| isbn=9780062009807| publisher=Harper| location=New York, NY| year=2013| first=Shohreh| last=Aghdashloo| author-link=Shohreh Aghdashloo| page=[https://archive.org/details/alleyofloveyello0000aghd/page/ ??]| url=https://archive.org/details/alleyofloveyello0000aghd/page/}} She said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times:

{{Blockquote|I loved that role. As actors, we all know we're at the mercy of the editing table, but not to this extent, never had I experienced it. The director, George Nolfi, decided I should play God. Everything went great until I got a call from the director who was asking to have lunch with me. He was on the verge of crying. He said, the distribution company believes that you cannot play this role.{{cite web| url= https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-jun-01-la-et-mn-aghdashloo-conversation-20130602-story.html | title= Shohreh Aghdashloo, from Tehran to Hollywood | date= June 1, 2013|first= Irene|last= Lacher| work= Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 19, 2022}}}}

The score for the film was composed and conducted by Thomas Newman, and two songs by Richard Ashcroft appear on the soundtrack: "Future's Bright" (which was co-written by Newman) during the opening sequence and "Are You Ready?" during the end credits.

Some reviewers identified Abrahamic theological implications in the film, such as an omnipotent and omniscient God,{{cite web|url = http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/11mv024.htm|title = The Adjustment Bureau|publisher = Catholic News Service|quote = Though this is certainly not a film for young people—in addition to the quasi-theological issues underlying the story, David and Elise's liaison becomes physical prematurely—the metaphysical elements of the plot can be interpreted by mature viewers in a way that squares with Judeo-Christian faith.|access-date = October 18, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110312205116/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/11mv024.htm|archive-date = March 12, 2011|url-status = dead|df = mdy-all}}{{cite web|url = http://www.jewishjournal.com/film/article/finally_an_action_thriller_for_religious_thinkers_20110307/|title = Finally, an Action Thriller for Religious Thinkers|publisher = The Jewish Journal|quote = Even rarer are those films that tackle theological dilemmas, like the age-old apparent contradiction of free will vs. determinism. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all believe in an all-powerful and all-knowing God who controls everything that happens in the World. What, then, is the role of our own decisions? Does man truly possess free will, or does he only have the "appearance" of free will? Did I truly decide of my own free will to marry my wife, or did God orchestrate a complex set of circumstances that forced my hand and caused me to fall in love with this wonderful woman in order to fulfill His unknowable Divine plan? This is precisely the theme of the new film, The Adjustment Bureau (Grace Films Media, now playing.|access-date = October 18, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110310021805/http://www.jewishjournal.com/film/article/finally_an_action_thriller_for_religious_thinkers_20110307/|archive-date = March 10, 2011|url-status = dead|df = mdy-all}} the concepts of free will and predestination,{{cite web|url = http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-adjustment-bureau-fate-vs-free-will-matt-damon-style-49022/|title =The Adjustment Bureau: Fate vs. Free Will, Matt Damon Style|publisher = The Christian Post|quote=How much power exactly do the agents of fate hold over someone's life? Can free will ever win over fate? And is it free will or fate that orchestrates action? Such are the questions that come to mind throughout George Nolfi's newest film, "The Adjustment Bureau," based on the short story by Phillip K. Dick.|access-date = October 18, 2007}}{{cite web|url = http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-adjustment-bureau-fate-vs-free-will-matt-damon-style-49022/|title =The Adjustment Bureau: Fate vs. Free Will, Matt Damon Style|publisher = The Christian Post |quote=Free Will vs. Predestination: What's Matt Damon Got to Do with It? "It's not this or that," responded Detweiler. "Gamers understand this very well, this tension between predestination and free will. It seems like they may be able to live better with that tension."|access-date = October 18, 2007}} and elements from the descent to the underworld (a mytheme dating back at least to the story of Eurydice and Orpheus). Cathleen Falsani said that the Chairman represents God,{{cite news|url = https://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathleen-falsani/the-god-factor-does-god-c_b_833118.html| title =The Adjustment Bureau: Does God Change Our Minds, or Do We Change God's?|work = The Huffington Post|quote=The Chairman—i.e., God—has written the stories of our lives and the Big Story of the World. |access-date = October 18, 2007| first= Cathleen| last=Falsani |date=March 8, 2011}} while his caseworkers are angels.{{cite news|url = http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/03/2694442/the-adjustment-bureau-damon-and.html|title ='Adjustment Bureau': The surreal feels real|work = The Kansas City Star| quote=Are you angels?" he asks Richardson. "We've been called lots of things," is the reply. "Think of us as case workers." |access-date = October 18, 2007}}{{cite web|url = http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2011/03/matt-damon-defies-gods-insidious-bureaucracy-in-the-adjustment-bureau/|title =Matt Damon Defies God's Insidious Bureaucracy in The Adjustment Bureau|publisher = D Magazine|quote=You see, "the Chairman" (as the film calls the being responsible for managing the entire universe) has dispatched "case workers" (angels—without wings, but with magical hats) to keep humanity moving according to his carefully choreographed plan.|access-date = October 18, 2007}} The director of the film, George Nolfi, stated that the "intention of this film is to raise questions."{{cite web|url = http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-adjustment-bureau-fate-vs-free-will-matt-damon-style-49022/|title =The Adjustment Bureau: Fate vs. Free Will, Matt Damon Style|publisher = The Christian Post| quote="The intention of this film is to raise questions—that's what art should do," commented Nolfi about his soon-to-be released motion picture at an earlier Pasadena screening. And that, Mr. Nolfi, it definitely did.|access-date = October 18, 2007}}

The Adjustment Bureau had its world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on February 14, 2011.{{cite news|last=Truong|first=Peggy|date=February 15, 2011|title=Lots of love for 'Adjustment'|url=https://variety.com/2011/film/news/lots-of-love-for-adjustment-1118032286/|url-status=live|work=Variety|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326102220/https://variety.com/2011/film/news/lots-of-love-for-adjustment-1118032286/|archive-date=March 26, 2023|access-date=January 3, 2024}} The film was originally scheduled to be released on July 30, 2010,{{cite news|last=DiOrio|first=Carl|date=January 28, 2010|title='Little Fockers' release date shifts to Dec.|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/little-fockers-release-date-shifts-20081/|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=January 3, 2024}} but was pushed back to September 17.{{cite news|last=Frankel|first=Daniel|date=April 28, 2010|title=Universal Shuffles Summer, Adds 2011 Dates|url=https://www.thewrap.com/universal-shuffles-summer-adds-2011-dates-16746/|url-status=live|work=TheWrap|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323144146/https://www.thewrap.com/universal-shuffles-summer-adds-2011-dates-16746/|archive-date=March 23, 2023|access-date=January 3, 2024}} In July 2010, Universal Pictures announced that the release date was pushed back again to March 4, 2011 because Damon had to promote his two other films, True Grit and Hereafter.{{cite news|last=Zeitchik|first=Steven|date=July 7, 2010|title=Matt Damon gets adjusted|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/24-frames/story/2010-07-07/matt-damon-gets-adjusted|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=January 3, 2024}}

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on June 21, 2011.{{cite news|last=Gaul|first=Lou|title='Adjustment Bureau' arrives Tuesday on home video |url= http://www.timesonline.com/entertainment/adjustment-bureau-arrives-tuesday-on-home-video/article_155411a2-9b33-11e0-8ffe-0019bb30f31a.html |work=Beaver County Times|date=June 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624181302/http://www.timesonline.com/entertainment/adjustment-bureau-arrives-tuesday-on-home-video/article_155411a2-9b33-11e0-8ffe-0019bb30f31a.html|url-status=live|archive-date=June 24, 2011}} It was the top selling release the first week it was for sale.{{cite news|last=Arnold|first=T.K.|title='The Adjustment Bureau' Tops DVD, Blu-ray Sales Charts|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/adjustment-bureau-tops-dvd-blu-206944|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110703072807/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/adjustment-bureau-tops-dvd-blu-206944|url-status=live|archive-date=July 3, 2011}}

The Adjustment Bureau made $20.9 million from 2,840 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind Rango ($38 million).{{cite news|last=Finke|first=Nikki|date=March 6, 2011|title=Johnny Depp's #1 'Rango' Reaches $38M, Matt Damon's 'Adjustment Bureau' Grabs #2, 'Beastly' Debuts #3, 'Take Me Home' #11|url=https://deadline.com/2011/03/first-box-office-rango-1-heading-for-40m-adjustment-bureau-for-23m-beastly-for-8m-take-me-home-for-4m-111453/|url-status=live|work=Deadline Hollywood|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706063409/https://deadline.com/2011/03/first-box-office-rango-1-heading-for-40m-adjustment-bureau-for-23m-beastly-for-8m-take-me-home-for-4m-111453/|archive-date=July 6, 2022|access-date=January 3, 2024}}{{cite news|last=Barnes|first=Brooks|date=March 6, 2011|title='Rango' Is Strong At Weak Box Office|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/movies/07arts-RANGOISSTRON_BRF.html|url-status=live|work=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106214734/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/movies/07arts-RANGOISSTRON_BRF.html|archive-date=November 6, 2015|access-date=January 3, 2024}}{{cite news|last=Chaney|first=Jen|date=March 6, 2011|title=Weekend box office: 'Rango' wrangles top spot|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/weekend-box-office-rango-wrangles-top-spot/2011/03/11/ABbqoTR_blog.html|url-status=live|work=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512024116/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/weekend-box-office-rango-wrangles-top-spot/2011/03/11/ABbqoTR_blog.html|archive-date=May 12, 2015|access-date=January 3, 2024}}{{cite news|last=Kaufman|first=Amy|date=March 7, 2011|title=No escape yet from year's box office slump|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-mar-07-la-et-box-office-20110307-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=January 3, 2024}} The film ultimately grossed $62.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $65.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $127.8 million.

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|72|6.6|264|consensus=First-time writer/director George Nolfi struggles to maintain a consistent tone, but The Adjustment Bureau rises on the strong, believable chemistry of its stars.|ref=yes|access-date=January 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106225456/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/adjustment_bureau|archive-date=November 6, 2023|url-status=live}} {{Metacritic film prose|60|41|ref=yes|access-date=January 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030083644/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-adjustment-bureau/|archive-date=October 30, 2023|url-status=live}}

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars, describing it as "a smart and good movie that could have been a great one, if it had been a little more daring. I suspect the filmmakers were reluctant to follow its implications too far."{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=March 2, 2011 |title=The Adjustment Bureau |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-adjustment-bureau-2011 |access-date=May 29, 2024 |work=Chicago Sun-Times}} The New York Times called the film "a fast, sure film about finding and keeping love across time and space ... [that] has brightened the season with a witty mix of science-fiction metaphysics and old-fashioned romance."

{{Portal|Film|2010s|Science fiction|United States}}

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[https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2011/ADJBU.php The Adjustment Bureau] at The Numbers. {{retrieved|access-date=2013-12-01}}

{{cite news |first=Michael|last= Fleming |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/emily-blunt-boards-bureau-1118005971/ |title=Emily Blunt boards 'Bureau' |work=Variety |date=July 14, 2009 |access-date=March 1, 2011}}

{{cite news |first=Michael|last= Fleming |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/studios-weigh-star-packages-1118000550/ |title=Studios weigh star packages |work=Variety |date=February 24, 2009 |access-date=July 28, 2009}}

{{cite web| title= Creepy People With a Plan, and a Couple on the Run| url= https://movies.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/movies/04adjust.html | first= Manohla |last= Dargis | author-link= Manohla Dargis| date= March 3, 2011| publisher= The New York Times | work= NYT Critics' Pick| access-date=July 12, 2012}}

}}

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