The Adjustment Bureau

If I were to recast this movie — based solely on quality of content — Matt Damon would be replaced by Nicholas Cage and Emily Blunt would probably be Jessica Alba. You sure can't tell it from the previews or the actors' traumatized faces, but The Adjustment Bureau is an excellent comedy and one that I definitely don't regret getting to see for free.

The most heart wrenching part of this whole story is the fact that it could have been a very intellectually stimulating, post-Inception, Inception kind of film. Instead, it was turned into a cheesy, implausible love story with a somewhat interesting backdrop.

The film centers on the fact that in the world there is an "adjustment bureau" run by a Chairman (in this case a heavily implied God figure) that makes sure important people's lives stay on track. Matt Damon (who plays David Norris) is a very important person — think a less polished, white version of a young Barack Obama. He meets a girl in a bathroom (Emily Blunt who plays Elise) and in one encounter that lasts under five minutes and includes one semi-passionate kiss, he falls madly in love with her. The big "twist" is that he's not supposed to ever see her again because together they will ruin each other's lives.

But young Matt, full of love and severe issues of co-dependency based on family problems, won't let the love of his life (who he met in the bathroom that one time) slip away. He tries to fight the system to ensure that he'll be with her forever.

If you don't think that this is a completely pointless plot by now, then you deserve to sit through the movie.

Another casuality of The Adjustment Bureau is the complete and utter loss of Emily Blunt's comedic affect. I still remember her sarcastically excellent role in The Devil Wears Prada as being one of the best parts of that entire movie. But instead she was forced to wear pained looks of distress at losing the love of her life (who she met in the bathroom that one time) and dresses that showed off her bouncing ... puppies ... as she ran from the bureau. I lost it in the scene where she admitted to calling off her engagement to her fiance (who turned out to be more attractive than Matt Damon) because of her love for the man she had spent less than 24 hours with.

Basically director and screenplay writer George Nolfi was not considered important enough to make the necessary adjustments. Or maybe it's all part of the plan that led you to read this blog at this very moment...nah.

The movie hits wide release March 4.