The Adjustment Bureau

Synopsis: Do we control our destiny, or do unseen forces manipulate us? A man glimpses the future Fate has planned for him and realizes he wants something else. To get it, he must pursue across, under and through the streets of modern-day New York the only woman he's ever loved. On the brink of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, ambitious politician David Norris (Matt Damon) meets beautiful contemporary ballet dancer Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt), a woman like none he's ever known. But just as he realizes he's falling for her, mysterious men conspire to keep the two apart. David learns he is up against the agents of Fate itself, the men of The Adjustment Bureau, who will do everything in their considerable power to prevent David and Elise from being together. In the face of overwhelming odds, he must either let her go and accept a predetermined path... or risk everything to defy Fate and be with her.
Director(s): George Nolfi
Production: Universal Pictures
  1 win & 9 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.1
Metacritic:
60
Rotten Tomatoes:
71%
PG-13
Year:
2011
106 min
$62,453,315
Website
2,518 Views


Let's welcome

our favorite alumnus,

and the next senator

from the state of New York,

David Norris!

Thank you. Thank you.

Well, hi, there.

My name is David Norris,

and I'd like to be the next senator from the

great state of New York.

Look at you.

What's your name?

I'm going to go through

Yonkers, door to door

...and take the city that way.

- We love you.

The recent endorsement

by the fire fighter's union

is another boost to Norris

who already had

a six-point lead

over his opponent,

Roger Linfield.

Whenever I see you on

C-Span, and you stand,

I always think you're

about to go, "Chug!"

Congressman, you certainly

started your career off,

eight years ago, with a bang

or should I say, a bust.

For the last eight years,

David Norris has represented Brooklyn,

New York City and America.

This is my campaign

chairman, Charlie Traynor.

These are voters.

Latest polls have

you up 10 points.

We're 10 points up?

This is not going to be

easy getting there.

I have some

real opposition,

and what they're

saying about me

is that I'm too young

to hold this office.

Win big, but run

like you're 20 down.

Okay, you got it.

Thank you, Gary.

But that's okay because

these are the same people

who say that young

people don't vote,

young people don't

care about politics,

but I'm here to tell you,

your future is about

your choices, not theirs.

So, today I'd like

to put them on notice

because come November,

I want them to know

that it was young

people like you,

who kicked their asses.

David! David!

Thank you.

Charlie.

What's wrong?

Yeah?

Any ideas?

I'm working on it.

Keep me posted.

Yeah.

David Norris,

until recently, he was way ahead

in the polls.

Mary Matalin and

James Carville are here.

Mary, this is a surprise.

It is a surprise.

Such political promise.

This compelling story, he grew up in a rough

neighborhood in Brooklyn.

He overcame the loss

of his entire family,

his mom and his brother

when he was 10,

his father before he got to high school,

he got over that.

He had such promise.

And he was the

youngest person

ever elected to the

House of Representatives.

Yeah, he was elected

when he was actually 24,

but he gets in a bar room fight

the night that he's elected.

I like this, all right.

Then you have this photo coming out

of the New York Post.

I think the accretion

of this stuff

was just too much

for the voters.

It reeked of some

level of immaturity here,

of impulsiveness.

People want maturity,

they want adults in Congress.

Big night

for us, gentlemen.

Everybody ready?

You look exhausted.

You should take a vacation

when all this is finished.

You've earned it.

I'm not sure the

kind of tired I am

can be fixed by a vacation.

Everybody needs

a vacation,

even us.

All right, let's get

him back on track.

Mary, over

the past couple of weeks

since the photo came out,

they thought people...

Why are you still

watching CNN?

That it wasn't such a big deal,

but clearly it was.

They called this way

too early. Come on.

Put on your pretty

little tie and let's go.

Suffolk County numbers,

Linfield, 415,120.

Norris...

370,233.

Wow.

I really thought

we'd win Suffolk.

Kings County

just came in, too.

Well...

I didn't win Brooklyn.

It's going to

be a blow out.

NBC has us up next.

I'm going to go

work on my speech.

David...

David. Hey!

I'm sorry I wasted

your time, Charlie.

NBC news is now calling the election

for Roger Linfield.

After a shockingly poor showing at

both Suffolk County,

and his home county, Kings,

it now appears David Norris

will lose this election badly.

Hello?

Hello?

I grew

up in Red Hook,

and I don't want

to surprise anybody,

but I got into a few

fistfights along the way.

It's not whether or not

you get knocked down,

it's what you do

when you get back up.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm

here tonight to tell you

I will get back up.

But tonight is

not about me.

It is about

coming together

and welcoming

the newest senator

for the great

state of New York,

Roger Linfield.

Sh*t!

Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t.

Hello?

- It's the men's.

- Yep.

Sorry about that.

I didn't mean to eavesdrop.

I just didn't know

what to do.

I heard you come in

and say, "Hello,"

and I probably should

have said, "Hi,"

but then I thought

that would be weird

because it's the men's.

Then you started

talking to yourself

and it was obviously

very personal.

So I was stuck

in no man's land,

and then it all got to be

too much, so I came out.

What are you doing in here?

Just...

I'm hiding from security.

Why?

I crashed

a wedding upstairs.

People still do that?

It was a dare.

Who dared you

to crash a wedding?

Me.

Oh.

- I crashed a wedding once.

- Did you?

Yeah, in high school.

Oh.

But I got caught.

I spent the night in jail.

I think that happened more

than once from what I heard.

You're that guy running

for Senate, aren't you?

Yeah, I am that guy.

And judging from your

speech, you're not winning?

No.

Oh. That's too bad,

the other guy is such a tool.

He is a tool.

I wish I could have made that

clearer in the campaign ads.

Personally, I think

mooning your friends

at a college reunion

is no big deal.

The Post did not have

to run the photo.

At least

not a full page.

God, no.

It was my favorite moment

of your whole campaign.

Really? I could have

used you on my team

a couple of months ago.

I could help poll test

every word that comes out of

your mouth before you say it.

Oh, you like politicians?

I like it when they do

stuff I can relate to.

Like pull their

pants down?

I love that.

See, that kind of candidate wouldn't

even get elected to the student council.

My guy would know

how to tie his own tie.

It's a clip-on.

Oh, I wish.

That would have been my other

favorite moment of your campaign.

Do you still

have a chance?

Is it over?

He crushed me.

Sorry.

Well, losing has

its advantages.

Like what?

For one thing, as a politician,

you're never really alone

unless you're asleep,

or in the bathroom usually.

That gets old.

Really?

Yeah, I guess I'm mostly

just looking forward

to having some

time by myself.

I don't buy it.

I think you love it.

Do I know you?

I guess I could have

been more convincing.

Okay.

You don't have to worry about being

convincing till the next election.

Are you a registered

New York voter?

Do I sound like I am?

Holy sh*t.

David.

Oh. Wow, sorry, guys.

- Sorry.

- I got to go.

Sorry.

- Wow.

- Hang on.

- You going to give your speech?

- Hang on.

Hey!

Hey.

Ma'am.

I got to go.

Ma'am?

That is so much better.

She's on the move.

Southwest staircase.

Excuse me? Ma'am.

What was that?

I don't know.

Are you ready?

Yeah, yeah.

All right, go do

the speech. Come on.

Congressman David Norris.

I grew up not far away from here,

in Red Hook.

- Brooklyn!

- I love you, David!

I love you more!

I love you both.

But we had a rule

in my neighborhood.

When you got in a fight,

Rate this script:3.5 / 2 votes

George Nolfi

George Nolfi is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He directed the 2011 film The Adjustment Bureau, which he also wrote (adapted from a short story by Philip K. Dick). more…

All George Nolfi scripts | George Nolfi Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Adjustment Bureau" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_adjustment_bureau_2232>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    The Adjustment Bureau

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.


    Quiz

    Are you a screenwriting master?

    »
    In screenwriting, what does "FADE IN:" signify?
    A The beginning of the screenplay
    B A camera movement
    C A transition between scenes
    D The end of the screenplay