* * * stars (Out of 4)| Sci-fi saga | PG-13 | 97 Minutes
In the annals of young adult-lit of the dystopian variety, Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” was published 18 years before “Divergent” and 15 years before “The Hunger Games.”
And though the movie adaptations of Veronica Roth’s and Suzanne Collins’ ultra-popular novels beat the Newbery award-winning novel to the multiplex, each seems to taketh from “The Giver.”
Had actor Jeff Bridges had his way, “The Giver” would have become a movie years ago. He started trying to develop it as a project for father, Lloyd, in the title role he now plays with a warm weariness.
The Giver” unfolds in the time after “The Ruin.” Sameness rules the Community, a berg of two-story, big-windowed, sleek box homes. The citizens appear happy in their appointed labors. The usual “isms” have been eradicated with a hushed but steady adherence to order and, oh yes, morning injections.
The black-white-gray palette director Phillip Noyce and cinematographer Ross Emery utilize at the start of the film evokes ’50s sci-fi thrillers, although the film’s mood is decidedly muted compared with those Cold-War-anxious films. Lowry’s book was carefully adapted by Robert Weide and playwright Michael Mitnick.
Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) and best friends Fiona (Israeli actress Odeya Rush) and Asher (Cameron Monaghan of “Shameless” ) are set to undergo a ceremony CLICK TO KEEP READING
Author: Mile High Mamas
Amber
I’m reading this with my kids now. It’s one of my all-time favorites.