Adjusted Course

"Most people live life on the path we set for them, too afraid to explore any other. But once in a while people like you come along who knock down all the obstacles we put in your way. People who realize freewill is a gift that you'll never know how to use until you fight for it. I think that's the chairman's real plan. That maybe one day, we won't write the plan, you will." — Harry Mitchell, "The Adjustment Bureau"

Sometimes it's fun to revisit a film you haven't seen in a few years and think about the ideas it conjures. That's what happened for me with "The Adjustment Bureau" as I had to re-watch it with an eye toward world view for a film class I was taking here at church.

I saw "The Adjustment Bureau" when it came out in 2010, reviewed it, wrote about it, and liked it. But I haven't thought of it much the last two years. When I saw it listed on the course outline, I started thinking about the film again.

One of my blessings/curses is a photographic memory. It helps me remember things in images, which can be useful but doesn't always help you remember the whole story. It helps me remember ideas, key points, and things that stood out.

In this case, I remembered the basic ideas and flow of the film, as well as some of the key concepts. But watching the film again with my wife — who hadn't seen it — gave me a chance to reflect on some of the deeper issues.

The best films are ones that work on many levels. On a first viewing, you get a sense of the deeper narrative, understand the plot, and pick up on a lot of the visual storytelling techniques. But if you really want to ruminate on the ideas behind the basic plot, you have to see good films and shows a second time. It's in a second viewing — when you already know how it will all turn out — that you can really get to the idea of world view and can begin to formulate a solid opinion about what you agree with and what strikes you as odd.

Such is the case with "The Adjustment Bureau." It would be easy to look at the film and come away with a feeling about the sci-fi elements or the love story, both of which are relevant to the basic plot. But there is a larger statement made in the film — one that concerns the idea of free will and predeterminism or predestination. What makes the film all the more fascinating is that it tackles these ideas that are central to Christian thinking in a totally secular manner and context. In fact, it seems more like a window into the way someone who didn't believe in God and was troubled by these ideas might work them out through film — which is really just an artistic reflection of the beliefs of its creator, in this case a writer and director.

There is an interesting exploration of both ideas, but it's treated as an either/or proposition rather than as an and proposition. As Christians, we understand that the idea of Free Will and Predestination is an and type discussion.

But, for me, one of the other biggest takeaways from the film was the idea of how small moments and exchanges can have major ripples for our lives, and for the lives of others. I think as humans, especially given the fast-paced way our culture approaches life, that we don't think of the small moments and decisions as being big. But they are. That's something embedded in this film that is an interesting paradox with our typical view of life.

Consider that David Norris (Matt Damon) gets on a bus to go to work, finds a woman with whom he'd shared a chance encounter (Emily Blunt) and it sets them on a path that will forever change both their lives and the world. And it started with the small decision to catch the bus, something we probably don't spend too much time thinking about.

Now, we can't live our lives in paralysis by analysis as we over intellectualize every decision, but we should remember that in the fabric of our lives it all matters. It's all part of God's plan for us and for the world.

The second big thought I had when re-examining this film is that free will is about a trade off. Consider the choice before David Norris. He could choose to be with Elyse, knowing that she would fulfill him personally, or he could go on without her, knowing that the lack of personal fulfillment would drive him to loftier professional heights. When presented with that option, it forces one to decide whether professional goals or personal fulfillment is the greater good. That is a question with no easy answer, but those are the kind of subtexts that exist when considering the choices we make with our free will.

Perhaps the greatest gift of movies like "The Adjustment Bureau" is that they force us to engage in critical thinking, both in terms of what we believe and what God says to us about our world. And that's never a bad thing.