This weekend, I saw The Adjustment Bureau, a film that I’ve been looking forward to ever since I first saw the trailer back in November.

In The Adjustment Bureau, Matt Damon plays a New York politician who loses a race for the U.S. Senate and falls in love with Emily Blunt on the same night.  Inspired by some advice from Blunt, Damon gives a concession speech which, to me, sounds kinda whiney but apparently, the voters of New York find it to be amazingly compelling.  You should understand, of course, that this is a mainstream Hollywood version of the American political system.  What that means is that Damon’s character, of course, is a Democrat who would have won that election if not for the fact that apparently, a newspaper ran a photo of him mooning some people in college.  Now, seriously, consider that.  Not only does this movie start out by asking us to believe that a Democrat could lose a statewide election in New York but it also asks us to believe that he would lose for that reason.  Meanwhile, in the real world, Massachusetts (one of the few states more Democratic than New York) is electing a Republican who used to be a Playgirl centerfold to the Senate.  Anyway, the film continues to show its political sophistication by having Damon give a speech in which he says that political consultants have too much influence in the American political system and apparently, every voter in New York goes, “Oh my God!  He’s right!”  I don’t claim to be an expert on politics but seriously, all of the “political” scenes in this film just ring so amazingly false.

Anyway, Damon’s speech is apparently so amazing that his career is revived and soon, he’s being spoken of as a front-runner for the other senate seat (apparently, this film takes place in a world where New York would not only elect one Republican to the Senate but two).  In fact, some people are apparently talking him up as a future President.  But Damon doesn’t care about that.  All he cares about is winning the heart of Emily Blunt.

The Adjustment Bureau, however, has other ideas.  What is the Adjustment Bureau?  Well, the movie tries to keep it all ambiguous and mysterious but essentially, the members of the Adjustment Bureau are angels and the Chairman they answer to is God.  And God has already mapped out Matt Damon’s destiny and Emily Blunt is not meant to be a part of it.  (How Calvinistic.)  However, Damon insists on pursuing her until eventually, he finds himself being continually pursued by three members of the Adjustment Bureau — the blandly corporate John Slattery, sympathetic Anthony Mackie, and finally the cold and intimidating Terrence Stamp.  The whole thing finally culminates in an Inception-like chase through the streets of New York City with Damon insisting that he has free will and the Adjustment Bureau insisting that no, he does not.

What a frustrating film!  The plot is intriguing and potentially thought-provoking but the film doesn’t bother with following any of its themes to any sort of real conclusion.  In the end, all of the questions raised simply turn out to be an excuse to film Matt Damon being chased across various New York landmarks.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m always more than happy to spend money to watch Matt Damon get chased.  He looks good running for his life.  But still, it’s hard not to look back at the movie and think, “After all that set-up, that’s it?”  The Adjustment Bureau is like Inception without that spinning dreidel.

Still, I enjoyed The Adjustment Bureau despite myself and I can’t exactly say that I’m proud of that.  With each of its vaguely New Agey themes and its rather simplistic emotional content, this is the type of film that invites me to be cynical.  However, I enjoyed the movie even if I did find myself rolling my eyes during some of the more “sincere” moments.  A lot of this had to do with the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.  They made a likable and cute couple.  As well, Mackie, Stamp, and especially Slattery were well-cast as members of the Adjustment Bureau.  Director George Nolfi comes up with a few striking images and, if nothing else, he knows how to film people being chased.  Then again, it may have just been the fact that I saw this film with a special someone and therefore, I didn’t feel like I had to be cynical.  I could just embrace all the emotional silliness in all of its simple-minded glory and as a result, I had a good time.

That said, I don’t think I’ll be seeing The Adjustment Bureau a second time or buying it on DVD.  Unlike 0ther guilty pleasures, I don’t imagine this is a film that’s going to hold up well on repeat viewings.