The Giver (2014)

[K1stpierre]

Discuss

[Jack Nevada]

"Rabble rabble rabble"

Jeff Bridges

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

"Rabble rabble rabble"

Jeff Bridges

Fuck precision of language.Anyway, thoughts on the film.It's messy as a stand alone film, and IDK if I would recommend it. However, as a companion piece to the book, it's good. I really walked out of the theater holding The Giver in an even higher regard than I used to (which is saying a lot, since it's one of the few books from my middle school years that has stayed with me). I felt like the film did a great job capturing the core ideas of the book and even expanding on them.The Great:Themes-The film really captures the core ideas of The Giver well. It does this by both showing and telling. The telling comes from Jeff Bridge's dialogue, which might sound like the incoherent thoughts of an 80-year old on their own, but when combined with the memory scenes (the showing part), those words suddenly carry weight and heft.The memory scenes-Some have called them lazy. I loved them. What I liked was how both big and small memories were combined together. You would see a shot of protestors (a big moment) to represent strength, but then also see a shot of a dad just playing with his son (a small moment) to represent love, and both images would be equally powerful. The music was also splendid.The CinematographyThe Good:The Acting-Bridges and Streep are excellent. The young kids are eh, but they get the job done.Ambiance-You really do get creeped out by the community.The Meh:The changes-Some changes were good because they didn't really mess up any of the ideas or any of the narrative. Heck, one change, the added romantic angle, even strengthened certain ideas (mainly the ones surrounding love). But certain changes were just lame, especially the ones involving Asher.The Bad:Story-The story feels rushed. I think if they added 30 minutes to the film, it would've been better.Asher-His character just felt a little bland. And his turn at the end was far too rushed.Overall-So overall, I liked it. To be honest, a part of me even loves it. The ideas that this film played with are still stuck in my head as I type this; they're that powerful. Heck, I was even inspired a little by this film. Yes, its narrative struggles are apparent, and at times, it's a little too preachy, but I still found it powerful. There are better films out there right now (Dawn and Guardians come to mind) but this film is the one that will leave a lasting impression on me, unlike those two films (which were satisfying). 

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Overall I liked the move. I loved the book so I am bias to this. Bridge and Streep do a great job. One my favorite parts was the memory scenes. I thought they were well done and were the best done. I liked the idea of having a love interest which helps strengths the message from the book. But overall I thought the film was rushed.  I film like the movie rushes the memory sequences and I liked in the book when main character could remember somethings like when felt hungry in the memory and he felt as a child one day. I feel like in the movie they gave Meryl Streep emotions but negative ones. The movie overall could have been better but it works nicely. 

3/5 

[The Panda]

I saw the Giver and they really misadvertised it, I was pleasantly surprised because it was much better than I was expecting.I really do think the movie didn't go into the themes as much as it could have or have developed the ideas and characters as much as it could have. I'm also shady, I saw the play a long time ago, and I believe they changed the ending a bit but I could be wrong.It was well acted, especially by Streep and Bridges, nothing fantastic, but good performances. I did want more from it though when it ended, it really felt as if they skimmed through it and didn't take enough time to fully dwell on each moment. They wanted to cut to a lot of the more dramatic parts even though those didn't have the effect they should have had since the build up felt cut short.If they had given it 30-40 more minutes it could have been a lot stronger. It wasn't bad though, there were a lot of positive elements in it.B-

[baumer]

Probably one of the most pointless films I've ever seen.  A Utopia is not so Utopian.  That's all you need to know.

 

5/10

[Webslinger]

Lois Lowry's young adult book was always going to make for a difficult translation to the screen, but even with that qualification in mind, The Giver is still a disappointment. To the film's credit, it fares fine for the first two acts, during which is stays mostly faithful to the source material and explores some interesting (if rushed) concepts about the loss of innocence and the bliss of ignorance. It also makes effective use of color in order to better illustrate the changes in the protagonist's understanding of the world. Most of the changes up to this point are understandable, even if they strain credulity (like casting the clearly mid-twentysomething Brenton Thwaites as the sixteen-year-old protagonist). However, when the film veers away from the book in the third act, it becomes just another generic young adult fantasy about a chosen one who must free his society from the tyranny of a clearly evil antagonist (something that the book did not have, and something that the film struggles to establish with Meryl Streep's character). As a result, the ambiguity that made the book memorable is absent, and the film limps to a disappointing finish. It's far from a disaster, but with all the interesting ideas at play, this adaptation deserved a better final product than this one.

 

C+

[Rorschach]

I liked it!

[lab276]

Surprisingly good, the premise is great and I loved the snippets of colour and life amid the dreary stuff. But then the plot gets in the way and it turns a bit stupid. Not consistent but better than I expected. B

[TheMovieman]

Not bad, not great, kind of just there. I will say one thing, I at least don't regret watching it and having Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep certainly helps things. Not sure if I'll ever watch again, but it's passable entertainment especially given the refreshingly short running time.

 

***/*****, (B-/C+, 6.2/10, 2.5/4)

[K1stpierre]

I watched this on blu ray after Guardians, my overall thoughts:

I'm walking into this without the book fresh in my mind. I was tempted to read it, but then though against it. I want to judge the movie on the movie itself and not based on the book, which is rare for me. Overall, I think my initial thoughts on this movie was that it was good. I think some aspects on the film they kind of rushed and didn't build more, the parts of the book I did remember that weren't in the movie I was kind of sad, but I can't really complain because I think as just a movie, it works for the most part. I found the story compelling, the acting good, score was forgettable. I'd give it an 7.5/10, B overall.

[Omario]

So i was kind of enjoying the movie and then it just sort of ended. I didn't understand the ending properly. What was that house with xmas carols at the end? Is there a world outside with people unaware about the sealed of community? 

 

C-