Despite the saying “You can’t  judge a book by its cover,” it is still possible to tell something about a movie from its poster. The poster for George Nolfi’s directorial debut, The Adjustment Bureau features a woman in a red dress holding on to the hand of man in a suit running away from towering shadows of men in hats, creating a Hitchcockian vibe that gave some hope that this was going to be a film noir romantic sci-fi thriller. Unfortunately, appearances can be deceiving.  

The Adjustment Bureau is the latest film based on the works of science fiction wizard Philip K. Dick, best known for his stories that fashioned film heavyweights, Blade Runner and Minority Report. Nolfi was a screenwriter for films such as Ocean’s Twelve and The Borne Ultimatum, but his latest project falls flat. The Adjustment Bureau’s narrative is excruciatingly slow and fails to go anywhere.  

Matt Damon stars as smiley-faced New York politician David Norris who is the favourite to win a seat in the United States Senate. However, when his bad boy past catches up to him, he drops behind in the polls and loses the race. David runs into the men’s bathroom to practice his “comeback” speech when he bumps into Elise, played by Emily Blunt. Sparks immediately fly, and they kiss. After the encounter, David gives the speech of his life.  

After a couple of months, David starts a new job at a law firm and runs into Elise again and gets her phone number, this time on the bus.However, when he gets into work he sees that things are not normal. David suddenly finds a group of men in 1950s-style outfits doing strange psychological tricks to his unwitting speechwriter’s head. He tries to escape from the group, called the G-Men, but the men catch up and quickly capture him.  

These G-Men are led by Richardson, played by Mad Men’s John Slattery. Richardson explains that they are employees of the “Adjustment Bureau,” set to carry out plans determined by the mysterious “Chairman.” He tells David not to tell anyone what he has seen, otherwise they will “reset” his brain. David must fight the agents of fate in order to save his life and be with Elise, whom the G-Men have forbade from seeing him.  

The main problem with the film is that it only scratches the surface of the philosophical musings it attempts to impose on its audience. Do we have free will or is it something we have to fight for? Is there a higher force that determines the path of our lives? In thie film, Nolfi seems unable to answer his own questions. And when we think we are about to see something interesting, like David’s and Elise’s plan to find the Chairman, Nolfi instead provides a dry explanation and a tasteless ending before we are allowed to reflect on the situation.

However dull the narrative, Damon reminds us that he can play more than just brooding action heroes. Blunt plays a stereotypical free-willed spunky woman. Her performance fizzles, however, in a secondary role without great dialogue.

So, is The Adjustment Bureau science fiction or romance?  It’s neither. It turns out that Nolfi’s mind-puzzle is no puzzle at all and can be chalked up to a lacklustre story with only two interesting chase scenes that might provoke a few seconds of thrill.