Put away your history books, because in Philip Noyce’s adaptation of Lois Lowry’s classic “The Giver,” history is forbidden. In a world where no one knows of color, animals, weather, conflict, pain or even love, there is one who knows of all that was before Sameness: The Giver (Jeff Bridges). The movie follows Jonas (“Maleficent”’s Brenton Thwaites), who is no different from any of the other citizens of this ignorant world. However, everything changes when he graduates into adulthood and is given the job of the Receiver of Memories. All the memories of the past are handed down to him—quite literally, as the mode of transit for these memories are through a touch of the hands—from The Giver. The more memories Jonas receives, the more his understanding of the wrongness done by the Elders grows. He slowly realizes what The Giver realized long ago: Something needs to change.
As Jonas continues his receiving throughout the movie—which starts out in grey scale—we slowly see the color fade in through his eyes. This is a beautiful portrayal of what is described in Lowry’s book. Whenever the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep) steps onscreen, the color quickly disappears and switches back to grey scale, symbolizing the dark power she has over this world. This use of color was a brilliant way to bring this classic children’s book to life.
As in any role he is given, Bridges does a fantastic job playing a seemingly rough yet loveable mentor. Streep took on the “bad guy” role with poise and gave the audience just the right performance to show a character that wasn’t necessarily bad, just antagonistic. Although Thwaites would fit the notion that all you need for a good male lead these days is a teenage heart-throb, he did a good job portraying the innocent, unknowing young man finding his way in a world of missing pieces. If you’re planning on discussing this movie with a die-hard fan of the book, be prepared to hear complaints of all that wasn’t explained or adapted into the movie. However, the cast and scenery and story fit very well together as a movie standing alone and will certainly make a nice family Friday movie night in the near future.
