Rewatch: The Adjustment Bureau

2011, George Nolfi (Elevation) -- Amazon

I originally saw, and wrote about, this movie waaaay back in the early days of this blog, some 15 years ago. I am just going to "wow" that, and not psychoanalyse myself over "10,000 hours makes you an expert." 

Technically, based on how often you write, you are barely half-way there, so maybe in another 20 years, you should be objectively "good at writing". Or dead.

I have not rewatched this movie many times, if ever (memory escapes me), and it is not on The Shelf. But I have a nostalgic place for it in my mind's eye, as I do with many of the PK Dick adaptations. It is My Kind of Movie, or "Toasty coded" as Kent has said. Its romantic, plays with the idea of destiny, and it messes with religious paradigms without being offensive or dismissive. When I first saw it, and likely this was because it was a reveal, I wasn't fond of the whole Angels Messing with Us thing -- I was hoping for a more spec-fic explanation for the Bureau -- but I have definitely softened on that. I realize my original desire for it to be less-religious more-scifi was in connecting the hat & suited angels to the more nefarious figures from Dark City.

In case you don't recall, the writings in ReWatches are generally less than "reviews", unless that particular rewatch is the first post about the movie. So, they end up being just a general collection of thoughts I had during and after the movie.

In 2011, Anthony Mackie was probably just a face I recognized (from The Hurt Locker and maybe Million Dollar Baby) but he wasn't a household name. This role did put him forward more than the others in an already decade long career, and not long after this, he became Sam Wilson. Its nice he came back to a couple of Nolfi's later flicks including Elevation.

Also, we are rewatching Fringe (again) and I cannot help but do the comparison against the Angels against the similar attired Observers; I am surprised I never mentioned that in the original writing, considering it was about the same time Fringe was airing. 

My romantic notions have tempered, maybe gone so far as soured, with age. The original black-mark against David (Matt Damon, Oppenheimer) and Elise (Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer) was that their relationship was destined to derail both their lives. Instead of being utterly focused on their own lives, he as a politically ambitious senator destined for the White House, and she an emerging talent in the ballet & modern dance world, they would become subsumed with each other, with their relationship, which would degrade both paths. While I still do frown at the cultural requirements for everyone to have Peak Accomplishment, instead of just living satisfying lives, part of what the Angels were saying is that eventually at least Elise would sour on the idea that she had given up a life of greatness, for David. When the movie ends with The Director re-writing "the plan" I still wonder how much of Free Will will come into play, or was the movie just about abandoning all future potential for the jubilation of The Now. My soured romantic notions have me pondering the idea that even if their lives are not worsened for Choosing Each Other, romance eventually can simmer down, and would they both end up wondering What If in their old age.

I still rather like the way the movie is structured, the World Building and the idea that there are more people who went through this situation beyond David and Elise. They may be the Main Characters in this story, but there are many stories. It was still a satisfying movie to rewatch, but what had me stay away from it originally, stands.