Apologies for the lack of movie reviews lately – it’s taking me a little while to get into the Swiss movie scene and most of the films out here have already well and truly been released in the US and Australia (because English/US films need to have both French and German subtitles applied before Swiss release). Hopefully my reviews will become more timely as I find a way to establish myself into the preview/premiere circuit.

Ok, enough excuses… on with the review!

I saw the preview for The Adjustment Bureau a few months back and thought it looked amazing. I thought it was going to be this year’s Inception - a mind-blowing concept developed into a can’t-look-away thriller/action film.

David Norris (Matt Damon) is running for Senate and meets dancer Elise (Emily Blunt) while practicing his concession speech. She inspires him to deliver the best speech of his career and when they run into each other again on the bus the next morning, it seems they are meant to be together. However, a group of mysterious agents are determined to keep the two apart in order to keep fate on its path. David can’t accept that he shouldn’t be with Elise so he does everything he can to outwit and outrun the men of the Adjustment Bureau.

Unfortunately I couldn’t have been more disappointed with this film. The concept – that there’s a group of men who are responsible for controlling our fate – was brilliant, but this film was let down by its script.

The story because progressively more clichéd and corny until my fellow-cinema goers were actually laughing out loud at most of Matt Damon’s lines (but perhaps that’s just a Swiss thing).

For me, the worst part was the ending. It was changed and filmed several months after the rest of the film, and I think it shows. Had it been different, perhaps my review would be more positive.

My advice? Take control of your own destiny and wait until this one comes out on DVD.

Rating: **