The Central Problem with The Adjustment Bureau

'The Adjustment Bureau': 'Mad Men' Clothes Meet Retro Politics - Christopher Orr - Culture - The Atlantic: "But to describe The Adjustment Bureau as preposterous is akin to calling ice cold or George Clooney good-looking. Rather than leave its mysterious happenings mysterious, the film falls prey to the Curse of Exposition, carefully walking us through the rulebook of its invented universe. It's a tendency that is wearisome enough in a meticulously constructed fantasy such as Inception; in a haphazard romp such as this, the boardgame metaphysics simply rub our noses in the underlying silliness. The near-omnipotent (yet oddly ineffectual) adjustment agents, for instance, lose their powers near concentrations of water, rendering them considerably less reliable on a rainy day than the postman. They are also unable to pass through the interdimensional portals that transport them instantly across New York City unless they are wearing, yes, their hats."