Movie Math: The Adjustment Bureau

Returning to an old method of breaking down movies from way back to when I calculated Brooklyn's Finest, I recently viewed The Adjustment Bureau, and I feel the time has come to try Josh's method once again.

0.30*The Matrix + 0.25*Truman Show + 0.15*City of Angels + 0.10*Wings of Desire + 0.05*Mad Men + 0.05*Wanted + 0.05*Bourne Identity + 0.05*Inception = The Adjustment Bureau

For a concept-based movie, The Adjustment Bureau still manages to take elements from many previous movies involving two worlds, reality and reality. Here is the breakdown on a more detailed level for what elements are brought out of each ingredient in the formula:

The Matrix: protagonist stumbles upon the falsehood of his world and the darker, stranger forces that actually control his perceived reality. These forces (the agents not the robotic squids) tend to manifest themselves in business attire and have rather mostly emotionless identities.

Truman Show: protagonist stumbles upon the falsehood of his world and the darker, stranger forces that actually control his perceived reality. These forces have some sort of greater agenda that infringes on his personal motivation, desires, and free will. Fortunately for him, they are not completely all-knowing and able to be all places at once. Some of them are also more susceptible to emotion than others.

City of Angels: a group of angel-like figures watch over the goings-on of the world around them with the citizens unaware of their presence. Things get interesting when one of these watchers gets more involved emotionally than his elders would want.

Wings of Desire: in the predecessor to City of Angels there are the watchers and the watched. The film highlights a weathered species that acts sometimes too often on impulse over reason, leading the angels watching over them to get involved in one way or another.

Mad Men: these cats dress like they own (or at least shape) the world, and they do, so to speak. Also, note the all-men approach to owning the world.

Wanted: a silly object (in Wanted's case, a loom, in The Adjustment Bureau, a self-writing graph-paper notebook) determines the outcome of the world, and a higher group does whatever it takes to make sure that those involved follow their intended path.

Bourne Identity: Matt Damon runs with a completely unaware but beautiful girl in arm from higher powers in suits (always in suits) that try to control his life and identity.

Inception: Love story meets science fiction meets guys in suits (always!) being really good at doing seemingly supernatural things and toying with their environments.