[SFRA-L] ADJUSTMENT BUREAU conclusion and upshot (possibly a spoiler)

[Richard Erlich]

Concerning the conclusion of ADJUSTMENT BUREAU . . .


	<http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-adjustment-bureau>


Stop reading now if knowing how a movie ends spoils it for you.

	<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1385826/>

Although, trust me on this: it is not that big a surprise — and I'm  
vague below (and not very clear if you haven't seen the film).


---------------------------------------------


THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU is a good movie, but I felt somewhat  
disappointed by the ending, which is pretty conventional romantic  
comedy.
	I don't trust myself here, though, since I'm probably one of the few  
viewers concerned about "Adrian Troussant, Elise's Fiancé," and  
explicitly identified like that since just about no one is going to  
remember who the hell he is (my sister, for one, did not). From my  
point of view, Adrian is The County Paris of Romeo and Juliet kind of  
combined with the unnamed older brother in the parable of The  
Prodigal Son: the good-boy, nice-guy "inconvenient third," in this  
case stood up at his own wedding as if he were the nasty-guy in THE  
GRADUATE.
	If the plan for this section of the galaxy is to be remade to reward  
the spunky spontaneity of maybe-Senator David Norris (Matt Damon) and  
maybe great dancer Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt), why does it have to  
screw over Adrian? Additionally, why should the plan for even just  
Earth or the USA or even New York State get redone just so a cute  
couple can get together? "Love conquers all" in the sense of love  
overcoming even the gods, okay — but "Love conquers all" in the sense  
of conquering everything? In the sense of one couple's love  
justifying rearranging human history (or even the political history  
of New York)?
	That seems to me what the end of the film is saying, and I'll accept  
it for romantic comedy. But this romantic comedy is embedded in a  
fairly serious examination of fate and chance and free will, and I'm  
not sure we should find the fit comfortable.
		Of course, that may be the point, if this is a significantly better  
movie than I think it is.

Rich

______________________________________
Richard Erlich
Professor Emeritus in English
Port Hueneme, CA

Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first  
place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off.





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