The Adjustment Bureau

Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthonie Mackie, Terence Stamp, John Slattery

Rating: PG-13

Score: 3/4

Based on the short story Adjustment Team by Philip K. Dick, this is a story revolving around the concepts of fate, predestination, and free will.

David Norris is a popular New York politician running for the US Senate. Because of his rowdy ways, he does not win. On election night he goes to the bathroom to review his concession speech and meets Elise, a free-spirited dancer hiding from security because she crashed a wedding.
Only a few days later he meets Elise on a bus and they flirt back and forth realizing they are attracted to each other. She gives David her phone number. But David will have a hard time calling her because the adjustment team is on his tail.

The Adjustment Bureau is a secret organization that keeps everyone "on plan." The head of the bureau, the Chairman, has created a plan for every human on Earth and they have to stick to it. David's plan does not let him be together with Elise, he is meant to do great things but can't if he stays with her.  David doesn't like the idea of fate and decides to fight for free will by doing everything he can to find Elise.

There are obvious parallels between adjusters and angels, and the idea of the Chairman as God. It's a thought provoking story; are we here to fulfill a fate already planned for us or do we have the choice to do what we want with our lives?

It's not a confusing storyline to follow as some critics are saying, it's pretty straightforward and I would recommend it.

Truly Awesome

True Grit

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Hailee Steinfeld

Rating: PG-13

Score: 3.75/4

3.75? Is that a real score? Maybe not, but I wanted to give it a 4 out of 4 but...

a) sometimes I couldn't understand what Jeff Bridges's character was saying

b) having never read the book or seen the 1969 version I didn't know what the ending was...I thought it was bum.

Fourteen year old Mattie is determined to hunt down and bring to justice the man who killed her father in cold blood. To do so she hires Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn, a U.S. Marshal who likes to drink and smoke. They are not the only ones looking for Tom Chaney, Texas Ranger LaBoeuf has been hunting Chaney and he joins in on the manhunt. 
Unfortunately LaBoeuf and Cogburn's constant squabbling greatly impede the three, then they run into Lucky Ned's gang of outlaws. It turns out that Chaney has joined up with Ned, they now have a double mission: find Ned's gang thereby finding Chaney. 

All the actors were brilliant in their roles, Hailee Steinfeld was brilliant as the tenacious Mattie. The PG-13 rating is not so much for language, but it is a Coen brothers film; one man gets his fingers cut off and Cogburn threatens to pull out LaBoeuf's tongue and rummages around in his bloody mouth. 

I thought the ending was disappointing because it seemed a bit abrupt but overall I highly enjoyed the movie.