History YMMV / TheAdjustmentBureau

** Matt Damon, who, in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, plays an Asgardian actor in the role of Loki, here finding himself in a very similar situation as the real Loki in [[Series/{{Loki}} his solo series]]- namely, up against a bureaucratic agency of TimePolice while he tries to ScrewDestiny because of the woman he falls in love with. For bonus points, Damon also previously played [[Film/{{Dogma}} an angel named Loki]]. And in the series, just like this film, the protagonists sharing a BigDamnKiss is what screws up the universe's planned destiny.

** Matt Damon, who, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plays an Asgardian actor playing the role of Loki, finding himself in a very similar situation as the real Loki in [[Series/{{Loki}} his solo series]]- namely, up against a bureaucratic agency of TimePolice while he tries to ScrewDestiny because of the woman he falls in love with. For bonus points, Damon also previously played [[Film/{{Dogma}} an angel named Loki]]. And in the series, just like this film, the protagonists sharing a BigDamnKiss is what screws up the universe's planned destiny.

** Michael Kelly plays a political advisor two years before his role in ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'' as Chief of Staff Doug Sampler.

* OneSceneWonder: Creator/TerenceStamp as Thompson. He is only in three or four scenes, but completely steals all of them. It helps that Thompson is easily the most affable and dangerous member of the Bureau.

* OneSceneWonder: Creator/TerenceStamp as Thompson. He is only in three or four scenes, but completely steals all of them.

* MagnificentBastard: [[TheHeavy Agent Thompson]] is a high-ranking member of the [[CelestialBureaucracy Adjustment Bureau]], nicknamed "[[RedBaron The Hammer]]" for his efficient and heavy-handed tactics to convince people to comply with the Bureau’s [[WellIntentionedExtremist plan for humanity]]. Brought in to force David Norris and Elise Sellas apart to fulfill the plan, Thompson explains that Elise was planted by the Bureau to inspire David to make a speech that brings him back from the brink of defeat after losing an election due to a costly mistake and his role in their plans is to become President of the United States. Thompson then reveals that Elise and David will never reach their dreams together, injuring Elise’s ankle and goading David into hitting him to make a point about David's impulsiveness being brought to the forefront by Elise, convincing David to abandon Elise so they can fulfill their dreams. When David chooses Elise once more, Thompson leads the efforts to stop David, trapping David and Elise on the Bureau’s top floor and [[NearVillainVictory only being stopped]] because the Bureau’s leader changes the plan, whereupon Thompson [[GracefulLoser respectfully stands down]].

** Anthony Mackie would get his true breakout role a couple of years later as the Falcon in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.
** Emily Blunt was known but not necessarily A-list at the time. She would eventually reach the A-list with ''Film/IntoTheWoods'' a few years later.

** Michael Kelly plays a political advisor two years before his role in ''Series/HouseOfCards'' as Chief of Staff Doug Sampler.

* OneSceneWonder: Terence Stamp as Thompson. He is only in three or four scenes, but completely steals all of them.

* ParanoiaFuel: The idea that your whole life's direction, down to what whether or not you're late for work, could be controlled by a group of cosmic beings, especially since [[spoiler: anyone wearing a hat could be one of them]].

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is everyone working for the Bureau a ManipulativeBastard, or are they WellIntentionedExtremist types?

* HollywoodHistory: We're told that letting humanity off the leash led to the collapse of the Roman Empire and the Dark Ages. The fact that parts of the world outside Europe were doing just fine, or no worse than usual, during that period is ignored. Then again, this might be intentional; David calls attention to Thompson's selective focus when he treats the present like it's all good (to which he can only counter with "could be worse"), so Thompson may be deliberately [[AccentuateTheNegative emphasizing the negative]].
** The collapse went into the dark ages, which lead to the rise of power of the Catholic Church, which if it hadn't had happened may have went to a wholly different set of actions besides the Crusades. This is just one example. The rest of the world may have been "fine", but that doesn't mean there wasn't a large ripple effect. Think of "too big to fail" on a major scale.

* UnfortunateImplications: In the ending, [[spoiler: the Bureau is not gone - they just deigned to make an exception for David and Elise, and this is their happy ending. Granted, total free will would cause world wide disaster, and the moral of the story is that free will is something you earn -- but are the two of them honestly going to keep on living life as usual, in a world where they know all their friends and family are following a very precise script since they haven't "earned" the right to do otherwise?]]
** The plan is not that detailed. They admit early on they cannot possibly track everyone. [[spoiler:They are only making him lonely and miserable, because that makes him a great POTUS. Otherwise they would not care about him.]]
** The Bureau is not real, and living without them is what we're really doing in real life. It's going OK?
*** [[ParanoiaFuel Are you sure?]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is everyone working for the Bureau a ManipulativeBastard, or are they WellIntentionedExtremist types? Is David a heroic everyman standing up for his rights as a human being, or is a selfish jerk turning his back on a chance to save the world, or at least improve it?

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is everyone working for the Bureau a CompleteMonster and ManipulativeBastard, or are they WellIntentionedExtremist types? Is David a heroic everyman standing up for his rights as a human being, or is a selfish jerk turning his back on a chance to save the world, or at least improve it?
* HollywoodHistory: We're told that letting humanity off the leash led to the collapse of the Roman Empire and the Dark Ages. The fact that parts of the world outside Europe were doing just fine, or no worse than usual, during that period is ignored. Then again, this might be intentional; David calls attention to Thompson's selective focus when he treats the present like it's all good (to which he can only counter with "could be worse," basically), so Thompson may be deliberately [[AccentuateTheNegative emphasizing the negative]].