M and Em

I saw the Matt Damon/Emily Blunt sci-fi romance The Adjustment Bureau this weekend.  It's vaguely based on a Philip K. Dick story. The concept (and I guess this is a spoiler, though it's in the trailer) is there are beings who oversee humanity, and make sure things stay along the path set by the one they refer to as the Chairman.

Free will versus determinism is an age-old debate, and TAB handles it ably enough in its Hollywood manner (though some critics think there's too much exposition).  But one free choice the producers made intrigued me.  Matt Damon meets Emily Blunt and gets her number.  Usually, when there's a phone number in a movie, they use the 555 exchange.  Here, they very clearly show the realistic number.  I didn't try to memorize it, but I think it was 212-644-7445. (I haven't called it, though I wouldn't be surprised if it's something promotional.)

I commend them on this.  Nothing takes you out of a film faster than a 555 phone number.  I don't care if it's for legal reasons or not.  Avoid the 555 at all costs--give a partial number, or don't show it.  But please don't remind us we're in a theatre, eating popcorn.

PS  Here's Roger Ebert:

Matt Damon [...] walks into a men's room he has every reason to believe is empty, and who should emerge from one of the stalls but Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt). [....] They do meet again, once again by pure chance. But this time, they recognize each other, you see, because they had met earlier. It is possible the second time they see each other was intended to be the first time, in which case (if you follow me) they would not necessarily even notice one another. Seeing a woman on the bus isn't the same thing as getting into a conversation with her in a men's room.

I thought the movie was pretty clear on this point.  They were supposed to meet the first time, as it sets Damon's character on the proper trajectory.  However, they are not meant to be together, so the Bureau attempts to prevent them from meeting the second time, and then spends most of the movie trying to split them apart.