Directed by George Nolfi
(PG-13)
**
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There’s not a prize to be found in this “metaphysical Cracker Jack box” of a movie, said David Denby in The New Yorker. Based on a wry short story by Philip K. Dick, The Adjustment Bureau tries to expand the sci-fi visionary’s conceit about wiser beings controlling human fates. But this “strange, empty” thriller transforms that notion into a “wheezing discourse about freedom and choice.” The “nuanced performances” of its stars almost keep the story aloft, said Dana Stevens in Slate.com. Matt Damon plays a politician whose future is thrown in doubt when he meets a beautiful English dancer, played by Emily Blunt. Though smitten, he learns that mysterious men in matching suits and hats don’t want him to pursue this romance. Having seen behind the fabric of reality, Damon’s character initiates an “interdimensional” chase that provides some of the movie’s most enjoyable moments, said Justin Chang in Variety. But earnestness spoils the fun. After raising intriguing questions about chance and fate, the film explains them with “such crushing obviousness that it leaves you with virtually nothing to think about afterward.”
