The Adjustment Bureau (2011) Best Quotes

Harry Mitchell: You’re entire world is turned upside down and you’re thinking about a woman. Even if you could remember the number, you’ll never get through. Lost cell phone, changed numbers, whatever creates the fewest ripples. My name is Harry by the way.
David Norris: The fewest ripples? You freeze people. You froze my friend!
Harry Mitchell: We need special authorization to do…
David Norris: You poke around in people’s brains to make them think whatever you want!
Harry Mitchell: Be quite, David.

Harry Mitchell: [to David] Recalibrations make tiny changes in the way people reason. It doesn’t work on emotional personality. That’s too intrusive.

Harry Mitchell: If you reveal us, even if it’s unintentional…
David Norris: I know. I know. You’ll bump me on the head.
Harry Mitchell: Richardson has automatic authority to rest you.
David Norris: You mean lobotomies me?
Harry Mitchell: Try not to forget it.

Harry Mitchell: We can’t read your mind, or hear your thoughts. When you make a decision, your mind weighs options. We can perceive them. We know when you’re going to go off the plan or not, because if we’re close enough, we can sense when it’s going to happen. We’re just here to keep you on plan. That’s all we’re authorized to do.

Harry Mitchell: We have to monitor the entire world. We don’t have the manpower to follow everyone all the time.

David Norris: Are you an angel?
Harry Mitchell: We’ve been called that. We’re more like case officers, who live a lot longer than humans.
David Norris: Why are you helping me?
Harry Mitchell: I have my reasons.

David Norris: Why won’t they let me be with Elise?
Harry Mitchell: All I know is, the amount of resources they’ve used keeping you from her is pretty damn important to them. You’re going to look for her, aren’t you? You won’t find her. They’ll make sure of it. Even if they weren’t trying to stop you, they’re nine million people in this city. You’ll never find her. Forget about her. Move on with your life.

David Norris: [three years later, after running into Elise again] You know, I rode the M6 to work everyday for three years, hoping that I’d bump into you. Oh, listen, is there a place where we could go and talk?
Elise Sellas: Don’t you have to get to work or something?
David Norris:I just got sick.
Elise Sellas: “I haven’t seen you in three years, you make me sick.” That’s not an ideal come-on, just so you know.

Elise Sellas: You just hung up on your friend.
David Norris: Yeah, but we’ve known each other since we were kids. We have a sure thing.
Elise Sellas: What speech?
David Norris: It doesn’t matter.

Elise Sellas: I don’t think you should cancel your speech. What if I don’t like you at the end of our walk?
David Norris: I’ll take my chances.
Elise Sellas: Right. Seriously, my number hasn’t changed. Just call me like you didn’t last time.
David Norris: Look, if you take a walk with me, I’ll explain why.

Elise Sellas: It’s been years! How do you know I don’t have a nice boyfriend?
David Norris: Do you have a nice boyfriend?
Elise Sellas: Would it matter if I did?
David Norris: Yeah.
Elise Sellas: Oh, so you don’t have any real conviction then?
David Norris: Okay, it wouldn’t matter at all.
Elise Sellas: Oh, so you don’t mind being a home wrecker?

David Norris: Okay, if you were married, then it would bother me.
Elise Sellas: But now you’re just saying what you think I want to hear. I’m single. Now, let’s see you bulls**t excuse for not calling me.
David Norris: I didn’t have your number.
Elise Sellas: I gave it to you on the bus. I handed it to you.
David Norris: I was mugged. It was taken from me.

David Norris: Why else would I fawn all over you on a bus three years ago, and then never call you?
Elise Sellas: Because, I don’t know. You have a girlfriend and you felt terrible.
David Norris: Okay. Listen I swear to you that I did not have your number.

David Norris: I didn’t have your number. And I didn’t even have a last name to go by. You know, if you Google just “Elise”, you get seven hundred and fifty seven thousand hits.
Elise Sellas: You did not.
David Norris: And none of them were you.

McCrady: David Norris is off plan.
Richardson: Son of a b**ch! How did he find her?
McCrady: Chance. Just spotted her on the street.
Richardson: We never should have let him meet her in the first place.
McCrady: We followed protocol to the letter.
Richardson: The guy rides the same bus everyday for three years. Who does that? Three years later, I’m still cleaning up your mess.

Elise Sellas: I’m a dancer.
David Norris: Oh!
Elise Sellas: Oh, not like that! You pervert! I’m in a contemporary ballet company.
David Norris: I think you have the wrong idea about me.
Elise Sellas: No, I think that was the first thing that crossed your mind, actually.

David Norris: I think you should invite me to one of your performances
Elise Sellas: The company is called Cedar Lake. And and there’s actually a show tomorrow night, if you want.
David Norris: Was that an invitation?
Elise Sellas: No, that’s information.

McCrady: If they kiss.
Richardson: A kiss? That’s all it takes?
McCrady: A real kiss. If that happens, every possible adjustment strong enough to break them up will cause ripples over your limit.

Elise Sellas: I think that everything that you go through in life should come out in the way that you dance.
David Norris: I haven’t found that to be the case with my dancing.
Elise Sellas: It’s a shame.

David Norris: Look, whatever happens, I’m not going to let anything come between us again.
Elise Sellas: Okay.
David Norris: I’ll see you soon.

David Norris: I got to go see Elise right now!
Charlie Traynor: David! Every time we get close, you do something to mess this up.
David Norris: This is different.

McCrady: [referring to David] This guy’s a pain in the a**.

Richardson: There is a whole world of women out there. I thought we established this one was off limits?
David Norris: It’s been a while, I must have forgotten.
Richardson: Doesn’t change the fact.
David Norris: You put us together three times.
Richardson: That wasn’t us. That was just chance.

David Norris: Why do you want to keep us apart?
Richardson: Because the plan says so.
David Norris: Well, then you misread the plan.
Richardson: No. There’s no misreading the plan when it comes to you and Elise.
David Norris: Then the plan is wrong!
Richardson: Do you know who wrote it?
David Norris: I don’t care.
Richardson: You should. You should really show a little respect.

David Norris: If I’m not supposed to be with her, how come I feel like this?
Richardson: It doesn’t matter how you feel. What matters is what’s in black and white.
David Norris: What? You don’t know why I’m not supposed to be with her, do you? That’s why you can’t tell me. You don’t know.
Richardson: [as David walks away] Who is this guy?

Richardson: Maybe you should try the subway?
David Norris: Don’t all these taxis you’re diverting have plans too? huh? How long are you going to keep that up? Twenty minutes? An hour? Wow, the ripples must just be endless! I don’t care what you put in my way. I’m not giving up!

Burdensky: It seems like David Norris and Elise Sellas were meant to be together, because they were meant to be together.
Richardson: Wait. What?
Donaldson: In the ’70s, when he was born, they were meant to be together. The same thing in the ’80s, ’90s.
Burdensky: Wasn’t until 2005 that the plan changed and she was supposed to stay with Adrian.

Burdensky: [referring to Elise and David] The problem here is there are remnants from all those old plans that keep pushing them together. They still feel like they belong with each other, even though they don’t. And we’re about to tear them apart again.

Richardson: You spend your whole career hoping someday you’ll get a red letter case. Something you can really make a name for yourself with. Finally you get one, and it’s booby trapped.
Harry Mitchell: What?
Richardson: I’m saying, it wasn’t your fault. They were meant to be together.
Harry Mitchell: What?
Richardson: Were. In an earlier version of the plan. Actually, a dozen earlier versions. I always wondered how we had such bad luck. That she was on that particular bus, on that particular day.
Harry Mitchell: How could a plan just change like that?
Richardson: I don’t know. It’s above my pay grade.

Donaldson’s Aide: So, what are we going to do?
Donaldson: We’re going to kick this case upstairs, to someone with the latitude to clean up this mess without breaking into a sweat. We’re going to bring this to Thompson.
Donaldson’s Aide: Thompson? When he was in the field, his nickname was…
Donaldson: The Hammer. Yes. He’ll crush this little romance with a flick of his hand and force them back on plan again.

Elise Sellas: Everyone can dance. You just feel the music.
David Norris: Huh. Well, I’ve been told that I have trouble feeling.
Elise Sellas: Who told you that?
David Norris: A long list of women.
Elise Sellas: Oh, that’s gross.

Elise Sellas: Okay, you know what? Let’s race to that lamp post. You win, I dance for you. I win, you dance for me.
David Norris: On the pole?
Elise Sellas: If you like, yes.
David Norris: Alright. This is serious, what are the rules?
Elise Sellas: There are no rules.
Elise Sellas: [he suddenly starts running] Oh! You b***rd! Oh, my gosh!

David Norris: [as they’re dancing at a club] Maybe I should go home and get my tux.
Elise Sellas: [as she takes off his tie] Definitely don’t do that. It’s good. It’s good.
David Norris: I should never have come back here again without my backup dancers.

 
Elise Sellas: That was so weird. I woke up and you weren’t here. And then the phone rang, and it was my ex, which is just so strange.
David Norris: Yeah, sorry. I guess we hadn’t gone into any of that stuff yet.
Elise Sellas: Right. You know we broke up a while ago, and it’s over. And then he calls four times in one morning.
David Norris: He called you four times this morning? How long have you guys been broken up?
Elise Sellas: Three months. It’s like he knew I was with someone else.

David Norris: [referring to her relationship with Adrian] Was it serious?
Elise Sellas: We were engaged.
David Norris: So, not really that serious?

David Norris: Why didn’t you marry him?
Elise Sellas: Because of you. I’m not a hopeless romantic. I’ve never allowed myself to be that way. But once I felt, even for a moment, what I felt with you. You ruined me. I didn’t want to settle for less.
David Norris: I know the feeling.
Elise Sellas: It scares the s**t out of me.

David Norris: I’m not going to hurt you.
Elise Sellas: You don’t need to say that.
David Norris: I’m not going to hurt you. This is the first time in twenty-five years that I don’t feel like I’m by myself.
Elise Sellas: That’s an awful lot of responsibility for me. I don’t know if I’m quite comfortable with that.
David Norris: Too late.

David Norris: What if I told you I wasn’t ready to let you out of my sight quite yet?
Elise Sellas: Sounds good.

Thompson: [after David has been locked up in am empty studio] Frustrating, isn’t it? My name is Thompson.
David Norris: Whatever happened to free will?

Thompson: We actually tried free will before. After taking you from hunting and gathering to the height of the Roman Empire, we stepped back to see how you would do on your own. You gave us theDark Ages for five centuries until finally we decided we should come back in. The Chairman thought that maybe we just needed to do a better job with teaching you how to ride a bike before taking the training wheels off again. So we gave you Renaissance, Enlightment, scientific revolution. For six hundred years we taught you to control your impulses with reason. Then in 1910, we stepped back again. Within fifty years you’d brought us World War I, the Depression, Fascism, the Holocaust, and capped it off by bringing the entire planet to the brink of destruction in the Cuba missile crisis. At that point the decision was taken to step back in again before you did something that even we couldn’t fix.

Thompson: You don’t have free will, David. You have the appearance of free will.
David Norris: You expect me to believe that? I make decisions every day.
Thompson: You have free will over which toothpaste you use, or which beverage to order at lunch. But humanity just isn’t mature enough to control the important things.
David Norris: So you handle the important things? Well, the last time I checked, the world’s a pretty screwed-up place.
Thompson: It’s still here. If we’d left things in your hands, it wouldn’t be.

David Norris: Tell me why I can’t be with Elise? Because the last guy didn’t know.
Thompson: Meeting Elise at The Waldorf wasn’t chance. That was us. We knew she’d inspire you to give that speech. That speech that brought you back from the edge of oblivion and overnight made you the front runner in this coming election.
David Norris: Are you just saying you want me to win the election?
Thompson: This one. And four more after it. And I’m not just talking about elections for senate.

Thompson: David, you can change the world. But that doesn’t happen if you stay with her.

David Norris: Why do you people care who I love?
Thompson: It’s not about her. It’s about you. What being with her does to you.
David Norris: What it does to me? I’m better when I’m with her. Even you said it. The speech.
Thompson: In small doses, Elise was the cure. But in large doses, she rubs off on you.
David Norris: Stop.
Thompson: David, the president can’t be a loose cannon.
David Norris: Stop talking. It’s not working.

Thompson: Why do you refuse to accept what should be completely obvious by now? You’ve seen what we can do. You can’t doubt we are who we say we are.
David Norris: Look, it’s not about who you are. It’s about who I am.
Thompson: Can’t outrun your fate, David.
David Norris: I just disagree with you about what my fate is. I know what I feel for her, and it’s not going to change. All I have are the choices that I make. And I choose her, come what may.

Thompson: There is one more piece to this I haven’t mentioned. I guess I just didn’t have the heart. If you stay with her, it not only kills your dreams, it kills hers.
David Norris: What?
Thompson: Elise is about to become one of the most famous dancers in the country. And eventually one of the worlds greatest choreographers. If she stays with you, she ends up teaching dance to six year-olds.

Thompson: When you look back on all this, David, just remember we tried to reason with you.

Thompson: [at the hospital after Elise fall during her dance] I always hear people saying; “You can’t blame yourself for what happens to other people.” But in this case, really, you can. This is what you do, David. This is what you did getting into a bar fight the night you first got elected. What you did to get that embarrassing photo in the New York Post. We give you opportunities other people would kill for and you squander them with impulse. It doesn’t take a genius to see Elise isn’t exactly helping you with this.

Thompson: [referring to Elise’s injury] It’s a sprain, David. But if you stay with her, you’ll take away the only thing she ever cared about. It’s up to you.

Richardson: [after David leaves Elise at the hospital] It’s done. Thompson finished it.
Harry Mitchell: I know.
Richardson: You can’t let it get to you, like it did with his family. This is the job.

Harry Mitchell: You ever wonder, if it’s right? I mean, if it’s always right?
Richardson: Not like I used to. Look, Chairman has the plan. We only see part of it.

Charlie Traynor: [11 months later] She’s getting married to that guy she was engaged to. You okay?
David Norris: I think I’m going to…
Charlie Traynor: Take a day off. Hell, take a couple. We’re sixteen points up.
David Norris: Yeah, even I can’t blow a lead that big.

Harry Mitchell: Thompson was lying when he said you couldn’t be with Elise because she brings out your reckless side.
David Norris: Then why? Why do they care so much?
Harry Mitchell: Because she’s enough, David. If you have her, you won’t need to fill that void inside of you with applause, and votes, and dreams of one day making it to the White House.
Harry Mitchell: That’s important, but it’s not the only thing that matters.

David Norris: You know, Thompson’s not lying. They’re already talking about me being a presidential candidate. I’m phoning in my speeches and I’m sixteen points up.
Harry Mitchell: The public loves you.
David Norris: Before I met Elise, that’s all I cared about. I don’t even notice it now. I can’t stop thinking about her.

David Norris: Is she happy?
Harry Mitchell: Thompson won’t let you anywhere near her. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever.
David Norris: Harry! Is she happy?

David Norris: I got to try and get her back. Will you help me? Will you just help me get to her?
Harry Mitchell: They’ll sense you coming a mile away.
David Norris: What if I could move as fast as you? Teach me about the doors.

David Norris: Whatever it takes.
Harry Mitchell: Your father used to say that.
David Norris: I guess you’re not supposed to identify with your subjects. You’re not supposed to feel guilt.
Harry Mitchell: We’re not built to lead with our emotions like you are, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have them.
David Norris: Some more than others.

David Norris: We need to get going. The wedding’s in ten minutes!
Harry Mitchell: We have time. Being early is just as being late.

David Norris: Elise! You’re not marrying that guy. I’m so sorry. And I don’t know what you must think of me. But you can’t marry him. You don’t love him. I’ve been terrible, I know.
Elise Sellas: I’m going to marry him. I’m going to marry him tonight.
David Norris: No, you can’t!

Elise Sellas: Do you know that no one’s ever hurt me as much as you did?
David Norris: I know. I’m so sorry that I left you the way that I did.
Elise Sellas: Oh, David! You know what? You left me in a f***ing hospital! What are you doing?
David Norris: I know it seems terrible, but there was a reason.
Elise Sellas: You don’t know anything about me and what makes me happy!
David Norris: I’m sorry that I hurt you!

David Norris: [to Elise] I love you. And I don’t care what happens. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Even if it’s only a little while.

Thompson’s Aide: [referring to David] He just revealed us.
Thompson: Call the Intervention Team. Tell them it’s a square one reset.

David Norris: I never lied to you. I love you, Elise.

Elise Sellas: Who are they?!
David Norris: I don’t know what to call them, but they want to take you away from me!
Elise Sellas: Why? Why do they care about us?
David Norris: Look, they hurt your ankle! Everything you’ve worked for your entire life, it doesn’t happen if you stay with me! That’s why I left you in the hospital.
Elise Sellas: I don’t understand! I don’t understand!
David Norris: This can’t be wrong. This can’t be wrong.

David Norris: Okay. I can go through this door alone. You’ll never see me or the people chasing us again. Or you can come with me, and I don’t know what’s on the other side, but I’d know you’d be next to me. And that’s all I wanted since the minute I met you.
Elise Sellas: I’m coming with you.

Thompson: Did you really think you could reach The Chairman? And change your fate if you did? Or write your own? It doesn’t work like that. And I told you why.
Harry Mitchell: I’ve got a message for you.
Thompson: [as he reads the message handed to him] I understand.
Harry Mitchell: [to Elise and David] Even Thompson has a boss.

David Norris: Harry? You’re The Chairman?
Harry Mitchell: No. You’ve met him though, or her. Everybody has. The Chairman comes in a different form to everyone, so people rarely realize when it happens.
David Norris: Is this some sort of test?
Harry Mitchell: In a way, it’s all a test, for everybody. Even the members of The Adjustment Bureau. David, you risked everything for Elise. And Elise, when you came through that door at the Statue of Liberty, you risked everything too. But you inspired me. Seems like you inspired The Chairman too.

David Norris: Okay. Now what?
Harry Mitchell: [takes back his hat from David] Now, you can take the stairs.
[he smiles and walks away from them]

Harry Mitchell: Most people live life on the path we set for them. Too afraid to explore any other. But once in a while, people like you come along who knock down all the obstacles we put in your way. People who realize free will is a gift, you’ll never know how to use until you fight for it. I think that’s The Chairman’s real plan, that maybe, one day, we won’t write the plan. You will.