The Giver

The Giver is one of those books that's required reading in school. Although back when I was in school I don't think that was one of the books we read. For years Hollywood has tried to turn this 1993 Louis Lowry into a movie and now they've finally done it. Unfortunately it's just... okay. Don't get me wrong, while I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either.

The Giver takes place in a futuristic society where everything is seemingly perfect. There's no war, suffering, or pain. Everyone seems to be happy with their place in life. When Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is 17 he's chosen to be the society's Receiver of Memories. He begins training with a man called The Giver (Jeff Bridges). Jonas learns all about the truths of the world- including war and suffering but also about love and beauty. Confronted with all this, Jonas must make some hard choices about his future.

One of the things I did enjoy about the movie was the visuals. Most of it is in black and white with a couple of scenes in color spread throughout. It was really creative and fit well with the story they were trying to tell.

For me though, the best part was Jeff Bridges. I thought he gave a really good performance. Given that the movie was so so, I kind of feel bad for him since this seemed like his passion project. In addition to playing the title character, he also served as one of the movies producers. Meryl Streep is in this as the Chief Elder of the society. She's good, but it's far from her best role. The rest of the cast, I felt, was terrible.

Also, the musical score was pretty. But other than the things I just mentioned, there was nothing about this movie that made me walk out thinking "Wow! That was amazing." Maybe because I've seen this premise before only done a lot better.

The Giver was one of those movies that had a lot of potential. Is it worth paying the money to see it in theaters? Not really. If you're a fan of the book and are curious to see how it turned out, wait until it comes to the Redbox. Better yet watch it when it's on tv.

My Rating: 6/10