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.
By adding spurious action and making the characters older than in the novel, the makers of The Giver sell-out the story; a project which prizes individuality shouldn’t so slavishly adhere to the Divergent-school of teenage drama.
This young adult drama reaches out meekly to Hunger Games and Divergent fans, but has some admirable artistic touches.
Robert B Weide of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame co-wrote the screenplay but, sadly, none of the debunking wit of that series is found in this solemn, sappy fable. The colour montage sequences featuring Nelson Mandela mark a particular nadir.
This adaptation of Lois Lowry’s future-fantasy novel looks like a low-rent mishmash of Divergent and The Hunger Games.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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