Director: Phillip Noyce
Writers: Michael Mitnick (screenplay), Robert B. Weide (screenplay)
Stars: Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep
Synopsis: In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the “real” world.
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DIRECTION
The first thing you’ll notice about Phillip Noyce’s The Giver, is that it very much feels like a “been there, done that” dystopian film focused on yet another teen love story. While the film isn’t a complete failure, what’s disappointing is that the film brings up some interesting themes and questions, but mostly wastes them on a familiar trope that is anything but fresh. However the visuals and cinematography is gorgeous in the film, all while playing a pivotal role as well. The use of color has a specific purpose and reveals character in the story for our main character, Jonas (Brenton Thwaites). All in all, Noyce’s direction is mostly by the books and doesn’t do much to separate itself from other films of the genre, other than gorgeous use of cinematography.
Grade: C
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SCRIPT
The film opens with an introduction to Jonas and his friends, Fiona (Odeya Rush) and Asher (Cameron Monaghan), who live in a future colony where color is gone (literally) as well as “emotion”. The idea is to keep everyone safe by ridding of anything extreme, keeping things bland and simple. Soon, our trio of friends are in order to recieve their new jobs as adults in this world, in which Jonas is chosen as “The Receiver” a unique position that only one person in each generation holds. “The Receiver” is the only one person who can hold memories, emotion and culture and uses it to give wisdom in this new society. Jonas meets “The Giver” (Jeff Bridges) who begins this transition, which starts off well as Jonas learns of joy and love, however things quickly go south when he learns of death and destruction. From there, Jonas struggles with an internal conflict of having felt emotion, knowing it should be something everyone has. The premise is interesting and raises some fascinating questions and conflicts, however the constant turn to another teen romantic story lessens the potency the film could’ve had.
Grade: C
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RELATED: Wish I Was Here Movie Review
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PERFORMANCES
Brenton Thwaites is serviceable as Jonas, especially when showcasing his motivations toward the third act of the film. His performance here is nothing memorable but it’s not distracting either. Meryl Streep is completely wasted and sadly doesn’t offer much to this film, altho her presence his felt on her name alone. Bridges on the other hand does a great job in the Giver role, which was needed given that his character is more layered. Taylor Swift, who plays a crucial role in the film, does a fine job, although she doesn’t really have much to do nor does she have much screen time. However, it’s also a bit distracting since she does have very little to do that she stands out as our favorite pop star and not necessarily a character.
Grade: B
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SCORE
Marco Beltrami gets the nod to score here and it’s easily one of the best parts of the film. The music is gorgeous with some beautiful melodies that enhances a lot of the emotional connections to the film. The “action” sequences are very World War Z-esque but certainly work okay enough to suffice. Overall, this is one of Beltrami’s best of recent.
Grade: A
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FINAL THOUGHTS
The Giver is a studios way of pandering to the dystopian teen drama crowd, however, the heart of the story is more within the conflict of having and losing. It’s more about Jonas’ conflict with emotion and love and why people should experience it. While that premise is interesting, it gets lost in a muddled script that felt a little lost.
