Reviewing Movies

Rarely does the adaptation of a good book result in a great movie. Meet the exception, but then the Bridges Family have been working on this project for 20 years. Do watch the family reading of an early script to see Lloyd, dynastic sire of film royalty do the part of The Giver clad in pajamas and robe with his young grandson the receiver. Son Jeff takes the role of Giver here. Credit them for going outside the family to find a blue-eyed Jonas in the person of Brenton Thwaites, brown-eyed by the way. Those eyes are not in evidence for most of a movie shot in black and white. The movie concentrates on the 12-13-year-old Jonas and his work with the Giver. In so doing in a 98-minute film we do not get the same chance to become immersed in Sameness as we do when reading the book. Nor does the menace of this Orwellian society grip us to the same extent. The horror of the release process is glossed over in a film meant for a G rating. Included is a study guide intended to invoke the moral issues of a managed society.