Directed by Phillip Noyce (The Weinstein Company, 2014)
It is difficult to explain why a film fails where a book succeeds. Often it is because our imaginations are so much more capable of developing rich scenes, understanding nuanced relationships, and perceiving subtle undercurrents of fear, evil, and love. It’s rare for a book to be bettered when made into a film. Sadly, Lois Lowry’s 1993 book The Giver is no exception.
The 2014 film adaptation (watch trailer here) closely follows the book’s portrayal of a seemingly utopian society that has been structured to generate “sameness” to avoid all things bad, such as war, starvation, and violence. Unfortunately, there’s also nothing terribly good. There is no complete human experience until Jonas is chosen by the Giver to become the next Receiver of Memory and to solely bear the burden of knowing all that has been lost in the past: every memory, every pain, every facet of love. But Jonas believes these belong to the community, and so he begins to return all the memories—bright and dark—that make us human.
Overall, the film suffers from something akin to the central problem of the community itself. It is whitewashed, toothless, and without substance. Even a scene that should be horrifyingly gruesome—the death of a newborn twin, whose crime is sameness, by lethal injection—fails to stir emotions from its viewer.
The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges, was the force behind turning the book into a film. One cannot fault his portrayal of the grizzled Giver who cautiously hands over his role to the uninitiated Jonas. Meryl Streep turns out an equally adequate performance as one of the ignorant, yet authoritative, Elders whose job it is to ensure the status quo within the community.
The Giver warns us against meddling with what makes us human. Given our political climate of extreme difference, Lowry’s book is worth a read. The film is far from required viewing. Just read it. You’ll get more out of it and won’t have to remember what the forgettable movie you saw was about.
This article appeared in the October 2014 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 79, No. 10, page 42).
Image courtesy of the Weinstein Co.
