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Platitude Adjustment

"The Adjustment Bureau", based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, tells the tale of star-crossed lovers who try to outrun the forces of fate that are trying to keep them apart. It's a little dash of "The Matrix", a shot of "North by Northwest" with some "Inception" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" thrown in for good measure. It's an interesting mix, but one that needs more than a little adjusting.

Matt Damon plays David Norris, a Brooklyn Congressman making his way for Senate. Though he's idealistic and well-intentioned, he has a habit of buggering up his campaign with incidents involving the press and his own "youthful exuberance." On election night, he has a fleeting encounter with a lovely stranger named Elise, played by Emily Blunt. Their conversation inspires him, and she promptly disappears.

When David and Elise run into each other again, it seems like fate. Actually, it's just the opposite. Before David can call her for a date, he is intercepted by a team of be-hatted gents in gray flannel suits. His fate has already been written - and it doesn't involve Elise. It seems that free will is just an illusion - our fate is planned out ahead of time by "The Chairman". Deviations from the path require "adjustments" to be made by the crew in suits. Being with Elise means mean that neither person will fulfill their destiny.

Despite all the bureau's efforts to keep these crazy kids apart, David and Elise can't help but be in looooove. And so the couple try to outwit, outplay and outlast Fate itself in order to stay together. The ensuing cat-and-mouse game through the streets (and doorways) of New York pits David against the likes of the bureau's lead agent, Richardson (John Slattery) and their enforcer, Thompson (Terence Stamp).

Screenwriter George Nolfi ("Ocean's Eleven", "The Bourne Ultimatum") makes his directorial debut with "The Adjustment Bureau". There are some clever notions, here, but the film feels like a crazy quilt of borrowed ideas and mismatched tones. At times a heist film, others a fantasy, romantic drama and political thriller, it's not quite sure what it wants to be.

Holding the mishmash together is some decent chemistry between the film's two leads, plus some lighter moments supplied in typically wry, Roger Sterling fashion by the always wonderful Slattery (who plays Sterling on "Mad Men"). It's nowhere near the worst of 2011's cinematic offerings, but it could have been so much better in the hands of, say, a Michel Gondry. The elements of sci-fi, action, romance and theology get all mashed up into a kind of cinematic oatmeal. It tastes fine, it'll keep you going, but it doesn't quite satisfy.