The Adjustment Bureau 2011

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Matt Damon and Emily Blunt fall in love and flee shadowy figures in the immensely stylish romantic thriller The Adjustment Bureau. If only the ending lived up to the build-up. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: ...the over-explained softened edges of the story turn what could have been an exceptional brain-bender into a good, but fairly standard-issue heart-warmer. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Whether running or kissing or running and kissing (well, almost), Mr. Damon and Ms. Blunt turn romance into a palpable race. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: The zing here comes from echoes of The Manchurian Candidate, as well as the paranoid doominess of source author Philip K. Dick (whose 1954 short story gets completely revised). Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The doughy Damon and aristocratic Blunt don't match up physically, and they never get any Hepburn-Tracy rhythms going that might create some current. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Two movies for the price of one, though only one of them -- a fragmented romance within a ponderous parable -- qualifies as a bargain. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: An elegant fantasy, only slightly marred by rather too much science-fiction explanation. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: It's like The Matrix, as remade by the Hallmark Channel. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The on-screen pairing of Matt Damon and Emily Blunt is so winning that you may be willing to overlook the oddly modulating tone of the story that brings them together and then tries to keep them apart. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Whether this movie works for you largely depends on whether you're willing to work for it. To which I say: Bring your gym clothes. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The premise is so mind-boggling and fraught with implications that it tends to obviate the action mechanics of the last couple reels. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Nolfi's movie works on an interesting scale and a disarmingly gentle spirit, even though it's being sold as a hard-charging romantic thriller. I like it; I hope it finds an audience. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Because the chemistry between Damon and Blunt is so strong, what might have been a jumble of Matrix-style oddments comes across instead as ardent. Read more

Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News: A thoughtful and thought-provoking romance with a touch of the fantastic. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: It's hard to imagine a more spectacularly silly film making it to theaters this year than The Adjustment Bureau. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: It taps into your longing for the days when a sci-fi matrix could explain the world without making it a darker place. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: The Adjustment Bureau has you pondering the angles throughout, and it's a credit to newly minted director George Nolfi that he never lets his foot off the gas pedal. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Big Brother fantasy with style and real feeling, courtesy of an excellent Matt Damon-Emily Blunt pairing. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: What results, against some odds, is an intriguing entertainment. Read more

Karina Longworth, L.A. Weekly: Nolfi's predilection for old-school cinematic technique over newfangled excess is refreshing and sometimes ingenious. And Damon and Blunt conjure a convincing chemistry. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: I can't imagine anyone's ever speaking about this movie with fondness other than the people who made it, and maybe their close relatives. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Damon and Blunt give such terrific performances you might almost forgive the movie's dopey ending. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: It's too bad that "The Adjustment Bureau" is so flimsy, because Dick, as always, had a provocative idea, a pointed query about the role of chance in our lives. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Fans looking for something a little different will find it here - as well as the first real romance of the year. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, NPR: Cradled in Damon's solidly reliable hands, even a movie as extravagantly silly as this one gains heft and credibility, an impressive accomplishment when you consider that the entire plot revolves around magic notebooks and spellbinding hats. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: The misleading trailers for the supremely goofy "The Adjustment Bureau" promise action-packed sci-fi. What you actually get is a love-struck Matt Damon running for the US Senate as he's stalked by fedora-wearing angels. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Mr. Nolfi, who is also making his debut as a director, is another unfortunate Christopher Nolan wannabe, so the movie is a preposterous muddle that borrows heavily from Inception, without a single original idea. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: A lively premise turned into an inert and uninsistent film by screenwriter and rookie director George Nolfi. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It's about love conquering all. It's about people risking everything for a chance at romantic joy. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: The science is murky but the chemistry is strong. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: "The Adjustment Bureau" is a smart and good movie that could have been a great one if it had a little more daring. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: 'The Adjustment Bureau' misses by a mile. Despite heroic efforts by Damon and the lovely Blunt to build a plausible love story, the movie dissolves into silliness. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: You can feel the influence of classic American movies like "North by Northwest" and "The Graduate" here, and while I won't argue that Nolfi matches those examples, his ambition is admirable. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Easily one of the best American love stories of the past year. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: The Adjustment Bureau isn't a somber, elegant meditation on free will and destiny like Blade Runner (another adaptation of a Philip K. Dick work). But at its most winning it doesn't try to be. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film bristles with the sort of contrivances that could incite derisive snickers. Yet it moves with such brisk self-assurance that the chuckles arrive only at a few comedic rest stops. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Suspenseful, romantic and wryly funny, "The Adjustment Bureau" is the kind of film that reaffirms one's faith in Hollywood. Read more

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: The Adjustment Bureau presents itself as a paean to free will, to overcoming obstacles, to creating your own destiny-provided, that is, that you happen to be a dude. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Sometimes, a strong premise makes for a weak movie, which ends up drowning in its own clever conceit. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Where the drama falters, the romance rises. Damon and Blunt make a smart and sassy pair. You want them to be together even if it does mean that their political and artistic futures will be thwarted and history will be denied. Read more

Leah Rozen, TheWrap: Accomplished filmmaking that features two highly attractive, talented leads, a healthy dose of sentiment, an intelligent script, and which takes you away for two hours from the quotidian worries and banalities of your regular life. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: Nolfi began his career as a writer, which perhaps explains why he tries to keep the action character-driven: the sweet chemistry between Damon and Blunt does at least make their romantic, potentially existence-threatening bond credible. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: This mind-meld of sci-fi thriller, morality play and passionate romance is worth seeing, mostly for the palpable chemistry between the lead actors. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Questions of predestination and free will are intriguingly posed and clunkily answered in The Adjustment Bureau. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: The so-called Plan is derailed! Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: A smart, stylish thriller that melds science fiction, romance and Hitchcock-ian intrigue with surprising ease. Read more