1991, Movies

The Adjuster (1991, Atom Egoyan)

Full disclosure: I have never been a fan of Atom Egoyan. I have only ever thought one of his movies that I have seen good; that was The Sweet Hereafter and that was years ago, and I have no idea what I’d think of it now. I found at least one of his other films to be abjectly terrible.

This one seems very Egoyan-esque and so, from the outset, I am annoyed by it. To its credit, it does seem like it presages the current indie quirky dramedy trend by a few decades, so I guess it’s prescient. And the sound design is as ballsy as it gets for an otherwise seemingly conventional film.

But this feels like some seriously sub-Lynchian quirkiness. Though I normally like Koteas, I find him here to be kind of wooden – but I’m not sure it’s him, I think it’s the script. Like so many of Egoyan’s films – and really so many films of this genre – I find Egoyan’s script to be really, really weak. Only Chaykin really seems to be able to do anything at all with it. Everyone else feels like they’re on stage, either overdoing their lines or under-selling them. (Though I must say that Khanjian is less horrible than usual, so that’s saying something!)

here are lots of interesting ideas, some neat locations and lighting, and some genuinely funny (and very dry) moments. But they don’t add up to very much. “Weird is normal!” is what he’s saying, I guess.

I will struggle with the acclaim this man gets for as long as I watch movies.

6/10

  • Directed by Atom Egoyan
  • Produced by Robert Lantos
  • Written by Atom Egoyan
  • Screenplay by Atom Egoyan
  • Starring
    • Elias Koteas as Noah Render
    • ArsinĂ©e Khanjian as Hera
    • Maury Chaykin as Bubba
    • Gabrielle Rose as Mimi
    • Jennifer Dale as Arianne
    • David Hemblen as Bert, the Head Censor
    • Rose Sarkisyan as Seta, Hera’s Sister
    • Armen Kokorian as Simon, Hera’s Child
    • Jacqueline Samuda as Louise, the Maid
    • Gerard Parkes as Tim
    • Patricia Collins as Lorraine
    • Don McKellar as Tyler, the Young Censor
    • John Gilbert as The Doctor
    • Stephen Ouimette as Larry, the Butterfly Collector
    • Raoul Trujillo as Matthew, His Lover
  • Music by Mychael Danna
  • Cinematography by Paul Sarossy
  • Edited by Susan Shipton
  • Production companies: Ego Film Arts, Alliance Entertainment
  • Distributed by Orion Classics
  • Release date: September 26, 1991
  • Running time: 102 minutes
  • Country: Canada
  • Language: English
  • Budget: CAD$1,500,000
  • Box office: USD$396,573

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