Adjusting Love...

 The Adjustment Bureau

        What would you do if you were in love with a woman/man and someone told you that they would keep you from them by any means necessary? That not only that they will stop you from being with them but that in fact if you are with them, you will take away their dreams. Would you still be with them? Would you have a choice? These are the questions at the heart of "The Adjustment Bureau", a movie with miles and miles of heart disguised in the form of a science fiction movie.  

       David Norris (Matt Damon) is running for US Senate and after an embarrassing picture costs him the election, he is preparing to concede when he runs into the lovely Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) and when she kisses him he sees that his entire race was based on being authentic when he most of what he did was designed for him. Even before the Adjustment Bureau comes on the scene, David's life is being controlled by  others rather than his own ideas. As though in rebellion to the life he has and the spirit of this girl he feels connected to David  gives a concession speech which is so polarizing that he is immediately the front runner for the race 4 years later. He is never supposed to see his beautiful savior again. The Adjustment Bureau will do whatever it takes to keep David on his path to success in politics and keep her on her proper path in ballet dancing. They weren't supposed to see each other again but when a Adjuster named Harry (who has been with David for awhile) literally falls asleep on the job, David is on time to catch his bus, runs into Elise again and gets her number. Worse, he arrives at work early and catches the Adjusters in a compromising position "adjusting" his friends.

A word on the Adjusters. There is a plan to all of our lives and to make sure that we don't get in our own way, the adjusters make sure by making small changes which in the end lead us back onto the path. It could be as simple as spilling your coffee on yourself so you miss you bus (as is the case here) or your ex boyfriend calls you when you are falling in love with someone else. Anyway they lead us through life by the plan set forth by The Chairman (and I always thought Frank Sinatra was just a singer). However they try to avoid ripples or massive changes that affect many people. David throws a monkey wrench into their plan and they have to come clean with him, telling him the truth about what they do and who they are and taking Elise's phone number so David has no clue how to contact her.. 

Three years later, when David happens across Elise again, the adjusters cannot stop them from being together. David is in love with Elise and does whatever he can to be with her. Next thing you know, Terrance Stamp (AKA General Zod) is on the scene, allowing him to be with her but showing David the consequences of his actions can ruin his life and hers. Now he tries to stay away from her and the plan gets put back on course. I really enjoyed the playing of one  group against another. The Adjustment Bureau is trying to keep their plan intact and David is trying to be with the woman he loves and the woman who loves him. The movie then brings up the idea of what you would do to be with the person you love when everyone tells you how very wrong you are for each other. 

It also brings up the idea of God and free will. According to the movie, free will is an idea of something that we never really had. That our lives our planned by the mysterious chairman from the moment we are born to the day we die. What I appreciate is that the movie is not hitting you over the head with religious viewpoints. It simply states the way it is in the story and lets you work it out for yourself. I doubt that many people would believe in the view of life shown by The Adjustment Bureau but it is just as viable as any other option given to us. What would make me pause when thinking life is planned is that if we truly have no will, how can we be judged for the actions we end up taking? If someone becomes a rapist or serial killer, he really had no choice. It takes away all personal responsibility. I can't say I like the idea of that and in the film neither can Matt Damon...so he changes it. We are left with a vision of hope for humanity and we end up feeling good about true love which in my view is something we've lost. I don't admit to knowing all there is about love but I am hard pressed to find a reason to doubt in true love. It's nice to see that in cynical times we can still make a movie that points that out.

The Ultra Hip and Smashingly Awesome Golden Unhappy Awards

Emily Blunt - The Unnervingly Attractive award

                        The "I'm a dancer who is not emaciated" Award

                        The Sexy Accent Award

Terrance Stamp - The Kneel Before Zod Award for Best Baddies 

5 out of 5 Unhappy Faces

And some other movies that give me reasons to believe in love....

Love Actually

       An ensemble movie with many different story lines, all of which are perfect in their understanding of their side of love. Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister of England who falls in love with one of his staffers and finds how to be the leader of a world power when faced with a sticky situation with the President of the US. Academy Award Winner Colin Firth as a divorced writer who deals with his pain by writing and making a connection with his maid. A lot of maid stories... An English man who is in love with his best friends wife...a unattractive man who believes the only thing he needs to meet a dream girl is American girls....a couple who meet as body doubles for what appears to be a porn movie... a widowed stepfather trying to raise his wife's son after her death and help him through his first bout with love....a husband attempting to sleep with his secretary....his wife learning her husband is in love with his secretary. All bound up into one gooey love story. It makes me smile every time.

4.5 out of 5 Unhappy Faces

Chasing Amy

          Kevin Smith's opus to his real life insecurity with dating a girl who is far more experienced than he is. In this case Ben Affleck meets a lesbian and falls in love with her only to find out that she loves him too.  Then he becomes so concerned with what she's done with others that it drives him insane. By far the best of Kevin Smith's Jersey Chronicles. I loved the chemistry between Joey Lauren Adams and Ben Affleck. The addition of the always offensive Jason Lee as Affleck's comic book writing partner adds levels of humor and offensiveness to the movie that is the first movie I'd seen that spoke for the gay community. Many people won't see it that way but the idea that love knows no sexuality is one to ponder. I, for one, am heterosexual but to not rule out any eventuality to finding true love means that there is no impediment to love. What if the perfect person for you is someone of the opposite sex? 

5 out of 5 Unhappy Faces

Enchanted

         I thought to finish and round out the movies, I could pick one that did not have a heartbreaking bone in their body. This Disney movie is the best of the best at creating a love story using their princess searching for Prince Charming by proving that the person you are meant to be with is not always the person you need to be with. Amy Adams is so sweet and innocent that you understand why Patrick Dempsey protects her and tries to help her find her prince when she is transported from the land of poison apples and seven dwarfs to New York City. In a choice between having the cartoon version of love she decides quite appropriately to have the real world version of love. A sweet and almost sickening movie that always makes me smile and ache a bit in my heart. Yes I really did just say that.

4.25 out of 5 Unhappy Faces

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