THE GIVER is a very visual movie and those visuals
play on
your emotions. Based on what I heard
from reviewers and a friend who has read the book, the movie might be a Cliff Notes
version of the book. Phillip Noyce does
create a visually impressive movie which touches on a few philosophical ideas,
but it is a little too short and make you wonder how the movie would have been
if they let it run for a little longer than 90 minutes.
THE GIVER takes place in a somewhat peaceful
dsytopia at
least a few decades in the future where Sameness is the law and emotion is
controlled in addition to memories of the past blocked from memory except for
the person known as the Giver (Jeff Bridges.
Jonas is chosen to be the Receiver of Memory where he will train under
the Giver to be the next Giver.
However, the Giver share memories with Jonas of what the world has
forgotten and the Elders don’t want known, but the Giver has other ideas. It
also revolves around an uncertain child
named Gabriel that Jonas shares memories with.
Jonas feels love for a girl he has known all his life when he stops
taking his medication.
THE GIVER is a film about why it is important
to have
memories and emotions. Precise language
isn’t enough and we should be able to choose our role in life in addition to
being able to feel love. It starts out
as a place that seems like utopia, but THE GIVER is one of those cold dystopias
that must be taken down. Some may feel
movies like DIVERGENT have already tread the same territory, but the novel that
the movie is based on has been around for years before DIVERGENT was even
written and published. It isn’t going to
be the great film like DIVERGENT or THE HUNGER GAMES, but sadly it will just be
a shell of a movie you might enjoy once and wish for more of a movie. . It
will be worth one rental if you don’t see it in theaters
This review is ©8-24-2014
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
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