Movie Review: The Giver
Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) lives in a world without color - though he doesn't even know what color is - and without emotions. His world also has no war and no conflict, and everyone lives peacefully in the community, which is led by a board of Elders. Jonas has just turned eighteen, which means his childhood is over and he will be assigned a work assignment. He's given an unusual job, however: he will be the new Receiver of Memory, and will be trained by the current Receiver (Jeff Bridges), who asks him to now call him The Giver. Once Jonas's training begins, he starts to realize how limited his worldview is, and he wants to change it as well as the view of the others in the community, specifically his friend Fiona (Odeya Rush), with whom he starts to fall in love.
I haven't seen Thwaites in anything else except Maleficent, also this year, but he does a great job here as Jonas. Katie Holmes and Alexander Skarsgard play his parents, or at least the two people selected to raise him in their family unit, and Cameron Monaghan plays Asher, another of Jonas's friend. The other standout performances here are Meryl Streep as the Chief Elder, and Jeff Bridges as The Giver; Taylor Swift also has a very small role as The Giver's daughter, who was "released to Elsewhere" after she failed to perform well in her new duties as the Receiver of Memory, ten years prior to Jonas receiving that role.
Yes, see this film. I was initially thinking of giving it 4.5/5 stars, but the ending was more abrupt than I would have liked it to be. I'll need to reread the book at some point now too, to compare, but purely from a movie standpoint, it's a "thinking man's movie" - it kept me intrigued throughout most of its runtime, and it's not your typical fluff film; I'd classify it as sci-fi, and specifically, dystopian. I'm hoping this film does well at the box office, too, so that more dystopian films will be made, as it's one of my favorite film, and also, book, genres.
The Giver is in theaters today, August 15th, and is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 94 minutes. 4 stars out of 5.
This reminds me a lot of The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I've never read the Giver before so I will have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteYes and no, they're both dystopian but The Host has to do with "alien" hosts, and these are just regular humans, mostly.
DeleteI am not a big fan of this dystopian genre. Perhaps 'cause I am old. I like period pieces.
ReplyDeleteI love dystopian books and films! I would like to see this. Haven't read the book, but it sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI have not read this book but apparently it's quite epic so making a good movie from it, especially given the current appeal of dystopian movies, seems like it should have been easy. Glad to hear they didn't screw it up.
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting. I don't get out much and might wait for the DVD, but will want to watch it
ReplyDeleteAlways love your point of view of films!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI am seeing this tomorrow night. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you think about it! (have you read the book, too?)
DeleteThis looks very interesting and makes me want to see it but I think I will wait for it to come out on DVD. Thanks for sharing the review.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen any publicity promoting this film before seeing your post...thanks for the information about the film
ReplyDeleteI never read the book, but I'd like to see the movie - I pretty much like anything with Jeff Bridges in it & my hubby likes sci-fi!
ReplyDeleteI will go see this one... I absolutely loved the series. I read "The Giver" in one of my education classes, and went on to read all the other books. I would love to see it one the big screen.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think of Katie Holmes playing a parental type character. She, like us, is getting older. :) The film sounds good.
ReplyDeleteYes, although the parents in the Giver's society are randomly assigned (they are not the birth mother, because that is another job in their society). The film is definitely worth checking out, IMO.
DeleteHaving not read the book, I had no expectations for this movie. I saw a futuristic idealized lifestyle only due to the ignorance of the population. This movie makes you appreciate the freedoms we have and yet get a glimpse of what a world peace would be like under a very controlling government.
ReplyDeleteYou should check out the book at some point, too! I remember it being good - we read it in school.
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