Luciano Marzo Anyone who praises this film is kidding themselves. I can't recall ever seeing a film that has aged worse than this. The Adjuster isn't the worst movie I've seen, but it is a completely unintelligible and dull exercise in abstractions, and that's putting it kindly. I can normally enjoy or at least appreciate foreign films, old films, and even experimental films, but I found this film to be extremely inaccessible. It's the kind of thing some no-talent film student would make who wanted to be avant-garde, but who knew next to nothing about constructing a story. It's not just boring; it's so poorly-done, that when it's over, you're just in disbelief that anyone is capable of making something that is such a complete waste of time.

bob_meg I first became a fan of Atom Egoyan's work with Exotica, continued with The Sweet Hereafter, and then was completely hooked when I stumbled upon The Adjuster about ten years ago.I bought the DVD (I was so taken with it) and then just watched it for the second time tonight. The Adjuster is possibly the most hypnotic and captivating of all of Egoyan's films (if you can get past the over-the-top bizarre factor) simply because you literally need to get to the end of the film to really put it together. And while that was true of other films, particularly Exotica, The Adjuster is a bit more rewarding simply because the themes and undercurrents of the film are so subtle. As with all of this Armenian-Canadian filmmaker's works, it draws its magic out slowly, until it literally has you mesmerized.It centers around an almost martyr-like insurance adjuster (played with brilliant cryptic understatement by Elias Koteas) who appears to be in an almost cardboard cut-out of an existence. He lives with his semi-estranged wife (Arsinee Khanjian) in an ersatz model home whose interiors are half fake, her sister and a small boy. His time is consumed making calls on victims of fires, all of whom he places at a typical multi-colored door motel, spouting canned bits of comfort and wisdom to them as their claims continue unpaid for an extremely long period of time. Koteas' character seems obsessed with making time stand still, in a way, and it's only revealed at the end the root of his fragile madness.The real standout performance (and piece of character writing) is in the always great Maury Chaykin's character. Now, I never got that he was an ex football player, and never really believed his name was Bubba, but I guess that's plausible. I merely thought he was another obsessive, taken to the extreme by extreme wealth and boredom. He's the true nightmare version of Koteas' character. Just the mere device of Chaykin and his wife tooling around in their chauffeured Lincoln or whiling away time at their huge mansion, always in search of some illusory delusion of normalcy and happiness was enough to hook me into this. Chaykin's absorption into this character is fascinating to watch. The crux of the movie's themes are all over an outstanding monologue he delivers while posing as a location scout for a movie company. It's all there and rendered indelibly by him. Fabulous actor....just fabulous.There's a whole other subplot with Khanjian, her sister, and fellow censor Don McKellar that mirrors much of the movie's central theme. It adds to the richness of the jigsaw but doesn't hold a candle to when Koteas and Chaykin are on screen.As for those who wonder where the plot is --- well, films like this are more thematic and character driven, so you may want to pass on this one if you require a story and get angry when films don't deliver that. For those searching for more, trust me....you'll find it, and then some.

crossbow0106 This very quirky film by director Atom Egoyan is about an insurance adjuster Noah, played by Elias Koteas. He is very empathetic to the victims of fires to their homes, and all of his clients end up staying in the same motel complex until their claims are settled (which never happens). A parallel story is about Bubba and Mimi, a rich couple who act out fantasies in public (she befriends him as he plays a sleeping derelict on the subway, she's a cheerleader for the football team-she is not a very young woman). The acting is fine, particularly Bubba, who is played by Maury Chaykin. I've seen him in many other projects, I think he'll be familiar to you. My problem is the story is weird for weird's sake. Who'd want to know these people? They are creepy, and the film becomes creepy. Its cutting edge, but I wanted better character development. I felt it just didn't deliver. If you get the DVD, you'll be rewarded. Included are two things which I really liked. One is the almost 20 minute film "En Passant", starring Maury Chaykin and Arsinee Khanijan, who plays Noah's wife in "The Adjuster". It moves along at a good pace and tells a simple, but good story. The other thing is an interview with director Atom Egoyan. He is articulate and I found he is true to his craft. I also realized he directed the excellent "The Sweet Hereafter". I'd recommend that movie before you touch this film. But, if you see the DVD, buy it for the extras. Check the film out. I didn't love it, but others here did.

riderpridethemovie Even those who worship at the altar of Egoyan would probably admit The Adjuster needed a bit of, er, adjusting. The first half an hour of the film is so disjointed and gives so little information it's comical, almost like a parody of his later work. Of course, this movie came before Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter and is really only useful to those who enjoyed those films as an exercise to see where Egoyan came from. And it goes to prove that no one, not Egoyan, not Scorsese, not Spielberg, made their best pictures straight out of the gate. The Adjuster has many of Egoyan's signatures — explorations of photographic voyeurism, depraved sexuality, his wife — but in The Adjuster he forgets to cross his Ts and dot his Is. The editing is particularly jarring, with little flow within scenes and jerky transitions between story lines. There are some interesting images, especially of the model home in the middle of nowhere and an interesting contrast between suburbia and the urban motel where Elias Koteas' character houses his clients/victims. Egoyan deserves credit for pioneering this style of dreary, detached storytelling, which like it or not is truly original. Of course, he is also responsible for the clones who have copied this style (Last Night, Century Hotel, The Five Senses) to less-than-desirable results and given Canada the reputation of precious alternof---s. No, really, we're normal people who don't all have cold sex.