The Adjustment Bureau Part 2

Life can be overwhelming.

One day you are cruising through time with a weightless soul and a sense of hope in every breath you take and the very next moment your life can be thrown into total chaos.

Our lives are so fragile and unpredictable that all it takes to go from perfect inner peace to absolute pandemonium is a 10 second phone call in the middle of the night or a cryptic text message from someone you really care about early in the morning.

The ocean is the place I rush to when my life is thrown out of gear.

It happens to be the one place on earth where I can sit for a while and switch off all the noise going on in my head.

The salty breeze, the massive expanse of the water flowing on an off the shore, all so close,yet so far, the realization that in spite of being just a tiny little being on such a huge planet I am able to take it all in brings a sort of peace that I have seldom if rarely ever experienced elsewhere.


A considerable amount of time in our lives is spent on making decisions.

Some of them are too small to notice, routine, like the clothes you chose to wear this morning or the food you ordered for lunch.

Some others are a slightly more significant, but with a little planning and research we arrive at rational solution such as choosing a destination for a family vacation or the place you intend to pursue your higher studies.

Then there are those set of decisions that come along every once in a while that can be life changing.
Before you know it, or even have enough time to think about it you are in swept over by a situation where one decision can change your entire life.

It’s just like the waves on the beach.
Some of them barely touch your feet, some reach up to your knees, but when you least expect it a large wave powerful enough to draw you into the sea comes along.

How do you decide then if what you want is to stay on shore, the place that you are familiar with, or go with the flow of the ocean not really knowing where it’s going to lead you fully aware that you are about to let go of the world you are leaving behind with the possibility of never seeing it again.

On screen chemistry is something that can carry the weight of an entire movie on its shoulder, take for example the movies starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks or SRK and Kajol.

When I learnt that Matt Damon and Emily Blunt were paired together in a film called ‘The Adjustment Bureau’, I had my own reservations.

But, contrary to all my expectations their palpable chemistry blew me away.

The movie has a very interesting premise.

In the backdrop of a love story the plot basically revolves round the concept of destiny.

Are any of these decisions that I talked about earlier in any way under our control?
Is your future and mine already decided?

And if it is so, is it possible for us to alter or change our pre determined destinies?

These are some of the themes director/screenwriter George Nolfi explores in the film that is not only intriguing but also very entertaining.

David Norris (Matt) is a promising young politician who has just lost his first senate election.
While rehearsing his concession speech he meets Elise (Blunt) a professional dancer with a vivacious personality, and sparks fly instantaneously.


In spite of all of David’s attempts to stay with Elise he is constantly hindered by things that keep going out of his control, things hard to explain by mere coincidence, almost as if there was a force in the world doing all it can to keep the two of them apart.

He incidentally discovers the existence of ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ a covert supernatural organization tasked with the responsibility of keeping the world from destroying itself. It is made very clear to David that he is not meant to be with Elise according to the plan that was decided upon even before he was born, and that being with her would not only the end of their individual professional pursuits and dreams with ramifications that could affect the whole world.

David lets go of Elise even though it hurts him incredibly, and unaware of the existence of the bureau Elise is led to believe that David leaves her on purpose.

A few years go by she flourishes in her career and David is on track to winning the next senate election.

A member of the bureau on Dave’s case feels guilty about keeping the two of them apart, so he reveals to David one day that Elise is engaged to someone else and about to get married.

David has 2 choices now.

Let her go, and allow their lives to proceed according to plan, or, reveal to her about the existence of the bureau, risk losing his memory and destroy not only his life but also the future of  the woman he loves.

Guess what David does?

He goes after Elise.

She obviously is mad at him because every time she thinks her life is on track Mr. Charming appears out of nowhere, throws everything out of gear and disappears.

Her anger turns into total bewilderment when he tries telling her that the reason he kept himself away all these years was because of the adjustment bureau.

He has a plan but it entails having to leave immediately.

David’s hurried explanation isn’t good enough to convince anybody, let alone the woman he has disappointed time and again, but he holds his hand out, and asks her if she is willing to believe in him again and take a leap of faith.

Does Elise take the jump, do they out run the bureau, do they ultimately manage to change the plans that were already made for them, and if so, how?


I don’t know how the world keeps itself from imploding in spite of everything that goes on here on earth, maybe there is an adjustment bureau out there keeping everything and everyone in check.

Maybe when you spill some coffee and bow your head to wipe your shirt, you are being kept from seeing something that may change your life, maybe the few seconds I spent stooping down to tie my shoe lace a month ago was the universe’s way of bringing me to one of those moments when everything comes together to make something special happen.

It is possible that every single thing that we do, day in and day out has a purpose and meaning attached to it, the repercussions of our actions are not always evident immediately but eventually I guess we realize that things went exactly how they were supposed to.

The real question is this, what if your goals, or dreams and hopes are not in line with what was already decided for you?

I now understand that if what you seek is pure and honest, and you are willing to put everything on the line to get it, even the universe will change its plans to fit yours in.

If your plan involves being with another person you deeply love, just make sure that when you hold your hand out asking them to trust in you, they will grab on to it no matter what.


Until next time



TGV

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