The Adjustment Bureau: an Unexpected Romance
Posted on March 20, 2011
Last night my husband and I went to see the Adjustment Bureau. It was his turn to pick a movie, so I wasn’t surprised that he picked a science fiction thriller. I settled into my seat (Milk Duds in hand) and prepared to watch a movie with a lot of violence and a bunch of not-to-be-believed plot devices.
Instead what I got was a wonderful love story, a movie filled with antagonists who are complicated and surprisingly sympathetic even though they are determined to keep the hero and heroine apart. The plot of this movie kept me right on the edge of my seat. Once I accepted that there were a bunch of men in hats controlling everyone’s Free Will, the rest of the story hung together with nary a plot hole to be found.
The poor hero in this tale is presented with a terrible set of choices at each turn. With each decision he makes, the stakes get higher. Every scene ends with unexpected disaster. And yet there are no piled up dead bodies, and the story is, at its core, all about love.
That makes The Adjustment Bureau one of the best romance movie I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Tell your significant other that this is a great date movie. And if you’re a romance writer, I recommend it highly as a great example of how excellent writing can blend external plot action with a deeply moving internal love story.
I was not surprised as I watched the closing credits to find out that the movie is based on a story by Phillip K. Dick — an excellent Science Fiction author. I did not read his story, so I can’t tell you how closely the moviemakers followed his original, but whoever wrote the adaptation did a wonderful job.
If you like romance, you should see this movie.
