The Giver 2014

     This film is based on a novel of the same title by Lois Lowry.  Her book sold over 10 million copies and received the 1994 Newbery Medal.  Jonas lives in a perfect world, there is no pain, war, suffering, color, love and memories.  At 18 years old, each person is selected for the job they are best suited for.  Jonas is worried because he doesn’t know what his job will be.  Everyone else has a talent that leads to the most suitable job.  Jonas is the last one selected and he is chosen to be ‘the Giver.’  He will train with the current ‘Giver’ to learn the memories of the past that will make him ‘the Giver.’  When Jonas sees what the world used to be like, he knows everything in his community is created and not real.

     There are a lot of similarities to Divergent in this film.  At a certain age the young people in Divergent are given a test to determine their choice of jobs and in The Giver they are selected.  Kate Winslet was the leader of the Divergent world and Meryl Streep leads The Giver world.  The Giver world is filled with ‘sameness’ and the film has a hard time rising above this sameness?  3* (This movie is OK)

97 min, Drama directed by Phillip Noyce with Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgard, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush, Cameron Monaghan, Taylor Swift, Emma Tremblay, Alexander Jillings.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, 36% critic 57% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*.

Special Note:  The acting talents of Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep seem to be wasted in these roles.