George Nolfi

So do you believe in free will, or do you think that snappily dressed men in fedoras are controlling your fate? This is the existential question posed by "The Adjustment Bureau".

When former congressman David Norris (Matt Damon) finds out the answer to this question, a question he never asked, he's faced with a choice. Have the girl of his dreams or eventually be elected President. From the trailers, it's obvious that he chooses the girl but the story gets much more complicated then that. I'm show more happy to say that the trailers did not give too much of the story away.

When Norris steadily refuses to conform to the plan laid out for him (by fate, God, the Chairman, whatever), the Bureau has to directly intervene. The concept of the Bureau was well done. These guys are just bureaucrats. They are given a plan to enforce. They don't understand the plan, it's above their pay grade, as one of them says. But the plan is important, it's their job to make sure it stays on course. What about free will says Norris. The last time we let you have free will, Mr. Thompson explains, was 1910. After the Cuban missile crises we had to step back in.

So does love conquer all, even The Plan? You'll have to see the movie to find out. I recommend that you do. show less

Like its predecessor Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve is a piffle of a caper, a preposterous plot given juice and vitality by a combination of movie star glamour and the exuberant filmmaking skill of director Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, The Limey). The heist hijinks of the first film come to roost for a team of eleven thieves (including the glossy mugs of Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, and Don Cheadle), who find themselves pursued not only by the guy they robbed (silky Andy Garcia), show more but also by a top-notch detective (plush Catherine Zeta-Jones) and a jealous master thief (well-oiled Vincent Cassel) who wants to prove that team leader Danny Ocean (dapper George Clooney) isn't the best in the field. As if all that star power weren't enough--and the eternally coltish Julia Roberts also returns as Ocean's wife--one movie star cameo raises the movie's combined wattage to absurd proportions. But all these handsome faces are matched by Soderbergh's visual flash, cunning editing, and excellent use of Amsterdam, Paris, and Rome, among other highly decorative locations. The whole affair should collapse under the weight of its own silliness, but somehow it doesn't--the movie's raffish spirit and offhand wit soar along, providing lightweight but undeniable entertainment. --Bret Fetzer show less

Men with magic hats try to keep a couple apart.

While watching it, up until the last 20 minutes or so where it starts to really fall apart, I was actually enjoying it somewhat. Solid C plus territory, with hopes of a good ending upping it to a B. Yeah, no. See, the thing with this kind of story is, it's supposed to build to something. There's supposed to be a twist, or a reveal, putting the rest of the movie into an interesting new light. Or at least explaining something a little. That is the show more whole point. If the writer(s) don't have any more idea what's going on that the audience? Then there's no story. It's not a bad story, or an unresolved story; it's simply a giant gaping void. The more I think about it, the more this movie pisses me off.

Concept: F
Story: F
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B

Enjoyment: D

GPA: 1.8/4 show less

Damon and Blunt are good and likable in this story of a politiican (naturally the male character) whose love for a dancer is not in line with the Adjustment Bureau's plans for his political career. There's not a lot of action in the film, which is good, since that type of film tends to be mindless, but neither is it all that scintillating despite the solid NYC locations and the good cast, including Terence Stamp who is always worth watching. At least there's a satisfying ending.