Think of them as the "Men in Black" led by The Matrix's Mr. Smith, with effortless style and extraterrestrial superpowers. The Adjustment Bureau (in theaters March 4) is the Untouchable crew of men in old-school hats that watches over the entire world. Free will, what? "We are the people who make sure things happen according to plan," explains Richardson (played by Mad Men's John Slattery), who, along with his gang of celestial thugs, tries to keep David (played by Matt Damon) from falling in love with Elise (played by Emily Blunt) because it's not in the plan.

"You ever wonder if it's right?" asks the bureau's rookie case officer, Harry (thankfully, played sans any trace of Bagger Vance by Anthony Mackie). Harry is David's magical pageboy who has been working his "case" for decades. But in a split-second slipup, Harry changes the entire course of David's plan, which includes the White House and saving the world. In the fight that is fate versus free will, Harry -- the angel with a soft spot for true love -- isn't sure his bosses always know what they're doing.

In an interview with The Root, Juilliard-trained Mackie, who also starred on the cover of this month's Vanity Fair with Hollywood's actors and actresses of the moment, described his latest film as a "spellbinding action movie-thriller-love story." That's a lot of genre to squeeze into one movie, but The Adjustment Bureau has "the Chairman" on its side.

The Root: Who is Harry? Is he an alien? A guardian angel? God?

Anthony Mackie: He's a case officer. I tried to stay away from the whole idea of him being an angel, because when you put specific terms on people, the audience will then bring in their own preconceived notions. I wanted viewers to put whatever spin on Harry they liked.