6/10
This is a strong contender for the best ever action/scifi romantic movie, with the accent heavily on romance. In fact I think it might be the only contender. But I still liked it.
Loosely based on a Philip K Dick short story, the film stars Matt Damon as a successful and ambitious politician, whose career is looking rocky as a result of a tabloid smear. On the point of giving a gracious losing speech, he meets a beautiful dancer (Emily Blunt). As a result of this brief but charged encounter, he dumps his pre-pepared speech and speaks ad lib, which almost instantaneously recharges his future political prospects. But when he meets the wonderful Elise again, his passion is such that he feels they are destined to be together. Enter men in suits and hats with superhuman powers, who inform him that this is not part of the Plan, and he mustn't go on seeing her. Hmm, what's a chap to do?
I have to say that most politicians would take the sweet deal and dump the distraction, but this is a movie, and Matt Damon is Mr Nice Guy, and Emily Blunt is, conveniently, the kind of woman you're willing to cross the line for. And that, quite simply is why the film works. The Grand Plan stuff is so much hokum which makes no sense at all if you look at it for a nano-second, but acts simply as a plot device to make the path of true love run as roughly as possible. In some way, it reminded me of A Matter Of Life & Death, in the sense that love conquers all (or we are expected to hope it will), and in another way, there were echoes of Good Will Hunting, insofar as Damon's relationship has the same appeal as the one he had with Minnie Driver nearly 15 years ago. Essentially then it is Matt and Emily who make the film tick. Ignore the publicity guff about Bourne Identity meets Inception. This film is more romantic, less tense (and violent) than both and doesn't take itself half as seriously as Inception. In fact, it's a perfect date movie. If you don't come out of this clasping the hand of the one you love, get a medical.
