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.
Review of The Adjuster
