I had recorded two movies that aired on a local broadcast station. One was a Christmas movie (a little early) and the other was called "The Giver". Obviously another Christmas movie. No, actually, while Christmas is mentioned, the scene (which occurs twice) lasts only a few seconds, with a happy family singing "Silent Night" in a nice house in an ideal rural location covered in snow. But joy such as this has been banned in a black and white world where everything is said to be perfect but numerous rules MUST be followed. I have not read the book because I just don't read books since I graduated from formal education.
But all is not grim. A perky, happy teen girl seems very normal, and her friends are close to what one would expect in the "real" world. Given the attitudes of this place, I'm surprised anyone is happy. The girl looked familiar for some reason and when I saw the above the title stars in the credits, I saw the name Katie Holmes. No, Katie is much older now. But Odeya Rush is quite likable, capable, confident, and intelligent. The character accepts her role and has a talent for taking care of newborn babies.
Jeff Bridges, on the other hand, gives this movie much more of a human quality, as he is allowed to do pretty much what he wants, and has a more interesting personality than what would be expected in this place. He is very good, and his role as The Giver is important in this society. He is determined to get it right when he trains his potential successor Jonas, because there was a failure in a previous attempt to do so. And we don't talk about that!
Meryl Streep is always talented, but here she looks her age and except at the ceremony where she seems kind and caring, she is borderline evil and expects obedience, and woe to anyone who defies her.
Brenton Thwaites is the lead who does a capable job. Jonas has a special job as the successor to The Giver and he really wants to get it right, but as he learns what has been hidden from most people, he is determined to reach other goals. And we want him to achieve what he wants. This is particularly true when he discovers horrifying truths. As he is shown the world as it once was, he discovers war is terrible and he didn't know people could treat each other like that, but what his society does is almost as bad.
I mentioned Katie Holmes. She is still talented here as she was back in her teen days. I don't know her all that well, but here she is cold and unfeeling and dedicated to rules, treating being a mother as a job and seeing family not as something to care about.
Alexander Skarsgard is a name I have heard, and he is good too but almost caring as the father. Not warm or someone to feel good about, but not as bad as his "wife". His paying job outside the home, however, is something shocking that he doesn't seem to realize is bad.
The other family member is Emma Tremblay, who does quite well to be so young. She accepts her reality and mostly complies with what expected without complaining.
Baby Gabriel, who is officially named "uncertain" but is given a name by Jonas' friend who thinks he should have one, has emotions that we can see. He is able to respond to Jonas' attempts to show him pleasant and unpleasant experiences from the real world, and he may have special abilities. I don't know whether Gabriel's facial expressions represent really good acting from the young babies, or CGI. But they are really effective.
Taylor Swift's name showed up "above the title" at the end. I didn't remember her but I looked at who played who and because I recorded, I could go back. This brings up a couple of the movie's flaws. I don't say this to indicate that it is not a good movie, because it is good where it is good. Rosemary was very important, and yet she is treated almost as if she didn't exist. Not just by characters but also by writers. One scene lasting a few seconds where Rosemary speaks and we can't even see her face. But she is running away horrified about the "real world". Then she appears as a hologram singing and playing the piano happily, and not that attractive. Not as special as one would expect from Taylor Swift, and not memorable in either of her appearances. Not that I see what's so great about her.
A major theme of this movie seems to be to show how a world with no differences is no utopia, and maybe we should celebrate our differences. The individuals do have different talents, but that is about it. Nothing is allowed to be special otherwise. And of course, those who don't qualify to do anything to contribute ... well, you don't want to know. Many problems are eliminated, but the result is worse than the problems were.
The use of color is quite effective. So much of the movie is black and white, and nearly all of it is for the longest time. Jonas has special abilities including the ability to see color in some situations, so this is the only color until he is shown scenes from the real world. Then the colors we see are quite spectacular, and brighter in a sense than what we would normally see. And what an experience when commercials were shown! Going from black and white to what is normal was an amazing experience for a change. Later, colors are more common but in the world of the movie, kind of dull. The more colorful scenes are from the outside world or imaginary experiences. And there are some really interesting brief looks at various cultures, such as a colorful happy wedding.
And the sets are appropriately futuristic and nothing short of amazing. The identical homes look like Lego projects and would be special if put in our normal world. Other than the fact they are identical, they are pretty special anyway.
Getting back to the negatives, the chief elder cannot attend the ceremony in person because there are too many ceremonies, in too many places. And yet we are led to believe we are seeing the entire world, which is not that big, and the elder could easily have attended in person. She can certainly go from one place to another easily enough. How big is this place really? Also, relying on one person to store all memories? What if something happens to him? And we see how hard it is to train a successor. And why ... well, that would be a spoiler. I won't do that here. Let's just say the last big event in the movie makes no sense.
Family friendly? I wouldn't say there is anything really bad, but there are brief scenes of war in the "real world" and some very unpleasant realities. It should be fine for older children.
Is it good? Probably. I've read the book "1984" and have some idea of what is wrong with a society like this. This seems original to me and doesn't fit a formula. I can see where it would be considered formulaic, but I tend to notice what is unique.
I think it's worthwhile.
But all is not grim. A perky, happy teen girl seems very normal, and her friends are close to what one would expect in the "real" world. Given the attitudes of this place, I'm surprised anyone is happy. The girl looked familiar for some reason and when I saw the above the title stars in the credits, I saw the name Katie Holmes. No, Katie is much older now. But Odeya Rush is quite likable, capable, confident, and intelligent. The character accepts her role and has a talent for taking care of newborn babies.
Jeff Bridges, on the other hand, gives this movie much more of a human quality, as he is allowed to do pretty much what he wants, and has a more interesting personality than what would be expected in this place. He is very good, and his role as The Giver is important in this society. He is determined to get it right when he trains his potential successor Jonas, because there was a failure in a previous attempt to do so. And we don't talk about that!
Meryl Streep is always talented, but here she looks her age and except at the ceremony where she seems kind and caring, she is borderline evil and expects obedience, and woe to anyone who defies her.
Brenton Thwaites is the lead who does a capable job. Jonas has a special job as the successor to The Giver and he really wants to get it right, but as he learns what has been hidden from most people, he is determined to reach other goals. And we want him to achieve what he wants. This is particularly true when he discovers horrifying truths. As he is shown the world as it once was, he discovers war is terrible and he didn't know people could treat each other like that, but what his society does is almost as bad.
I mentioned Katie Holmes. She is still talented here as she was back in her teen days. I don't know her all that well, but here she is cold and unfeeling and dedicated to rules, treating being a mother as a job and seeing family not as something to care about.
Alexander Skarsgard is a name I have heard, and he is good too but almost caring as the father. Not warm or someone to feel good about, but not as bad as his "wife". His paying job outside the home, however, is something shocking that he doesn't seem to realize is bad.
The other family member is Emma Tremblay, who does quite well to be so young. She accepts her reality and mostly complies with what expected without complaining.
Baby Gabriel, who is officially named "uncertain" but is given a name by Jonas' friend who thinks he should have one, has emotions that we can see. He is able to respond to Jonas' attempts to show him pleasant and unpleasant experiences from the real world, and he may have special abilities. I don't know whether Gabriel's facial expressions represent really good acting from the young babies, or CGI. But they are really effective.
Taylor Swift's name showed up "above the title" at the end. I didn't remember her but I looked at who played who and because I recorded, I could go back. This brings up a couple of the movie's flaws. I don't say this to indicate that it is not a good movie, because it is good where it is good. Rosemary was very important, and yet she is treated almost as if she didn't exist. Not just by characters but also by writers. One scene lasting a few seconds where Rosemary speaks and we can't even see her face. But she is running away horrified about the "real world". Then she appears as a hologram singing and playing the piano happily, and not that attractive. Not as special as one would expect from Taylor Swift, and not memorable in either of her appearances. Not that I see what's so great about her.
A major theme of this movie seems to be to show how a world with no differences is no utopia, and maybe we should celebrate our differences. The individuals do have different talents, but that is about it. Nothing is allowed to be special otherwise. And of course, those who don't qualify to do anything to contribute ... well, you don't want to know. Many problems are eliminated, but the result is worse than the problems were.
The use of color is quite effective. So much of the movie is black and white, and nearly all of it is for the longest time. Jonas has special abilities including the ability to see color in some situations, so this is the only color until he is shown scenes from the real world. Then the colors we see are quite spectacular, and brighter in a sense than what we would normally see. And what an experience when commercials were shown! Going from black and white to what is normal was an amazing experience for a change. Later, colors are more common but in the world of the movie, kind of dull. The more colorful scenes are from the outside world or imaginary experiences. And there are some really interesting brief looks at various cultures, such as a colorful happy wedding.
And the sets are appropriately futuristic and nothing short of amazing. The identical homes look like Lego projects and would be special if put in our normal world. Other than the fact they are identical, they are pretty special anyway.
Getting back to the negatives, the chief elder cannot attend the ceremony in person because there are too many ceremonies, in too many places. And yet we are led to believe we are seeing the entire world, which is not that big, and the elder could easily have attended in person. She can certainly go from one place to another easily enough. How big is this place really? Also, relying on one person to store all memories? What if something happens to him? And we see how hard it is to train a successor. And why ... well, that would be a spoiler. I won't do that here. Let's just say the last big event in the movie makes no sense.
Family friendly? I wouldn't say there is anything really bad, but there are brief scenes of war in the "real world" and some very unpleasant realities. It should be fine for older children.
Is it good? Probably. I've read the book "1984" and have some idea of what is wrong with a society like this. This seems original to me and doesn't fit a formula. I can see where it would be considered formulaic, but I tend to notice what is unique.
I think it's worthwhile.