The Adjustment Bureau – Book vs. Movie
It seems like more and more short stories and books are being turned into movies these days. In theatres, on Netflix and even on your television, you see these adaptations being shown everywhere. One in particular has been making its rounds and if you didn’t catch it in theatres, there’s a good chance you might have seen it floating around on any of the movie channels you get through Direct TV packages. That movie is called The Adjustment Bureau.
Starring Matt Damon, the film explores a world in which humanity is unknowingly being manipulated by a higher power. The details as to what this higher power is (alien, robotic, spiritual) is never laid out leaving it up to the viewer to decide.
If this sounds familiar, then you might be thinking of a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick called The Adjustment Team. While smaller in scope, the Adjustment Team also revolved around a protagonist who unwittingly saw behind the curtain at the inner workings of a bizarre conspiracy.
However, where the two differ is that the movie actually had a chance to really stretch beyond the source and tell a truly smart and interesting story. While the movie is not a poor adaptation, it certainly doesn’t push any real concepts or conventions like the short story it is based on. You are ultimately left wondering what could have been, which is the film’s greatest fault.