"The Adjustment Bureau" (2011)

If you are one of those people who enjoy contemplating the implications of the many Biblical paradoxes, or if you are someone who tries to simplify the Biblical message to weed them all out, then “The Adjustment Bureau” is just the sort of thought provoking entertainment for you.

Based loosely on a Philip K. Dick story, the film deals with a man trying to connect with the love of his life, whilst all the powers of heaven try to keep them apart. It appears as though at one point in “the grand scheme of things” they were fated to end up together, but decisions and circumstances have changed the plan. The whole story explores philosophical questions and concepts like fate and free will. Actually, it is more theology than philosophy. It does come across like the story in Genesis 18, where Abraham tries to influence God’s plans for Sodom and Gomorrah.

The reality of such issues is too grand and complex to be dealt with in one simple story, but the thought provoking way this story handles them is commendable. Even more than that, the art direction and concepts this film developed to present their ideas are some of the best seen in a long time. This movie finds its place alongside some other very well made, thought provoking movies from 2011 like “The Tree of Life,” “Jane Eyre,” “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” and “Midnight in Paris.”