Summary from The Weinstein Company website: The haunting story of THE Giver centers on Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a young man who lives in a seemingly ideal, of colorless world of conformity and contentment. Yet as he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), who is the sole keeper of all the community's memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of his community's secret past. With this new-found power of knowledge, he realizes that the stakes are higher than imagined - a matter of life and death for himself and those he loves most. At extreme odds, Jonas knows that he must escape their world to protect them all - a challenge that no one has ever succeeded at before. THE GIVER is based on Lois Lowry's beloved young adult novel of the same name, which was the winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
My Review
Probably like six months ago my grandma handed me this movie from her collection and said "you would like this, you should watch it." So I took it home and my husband was all "eh, whatever" and it got stuck in the tv cabinet and we never watched it. Well, this weekend while I was cleaning I came across it and I figured it was about time for me to return it (watched or not). So, I took it to my mom to return for me (she'll see my grandma before I do). So, of course my mom was all, "did you watch it?" and I was like, "no" and she replies "well you need to, you'd really like it." Geez Louise people....it can't be that good. But whatever...
Well guess freaking what...I was wrong. Yep, I said it. Y'all. I am so mad at myself that I never read the book. I would have LOVED this book. And you know why I didn't read it? I'll tell you exactly why....two reasons. 1) The cover looks boring and 2) I've seen it listed as required reading. I have enjoyed probably two books I was ever required to read, so I don't read required reading. Plus, I always pick books with intriguing covers and this one is just a picture of an old dude. WTF, Emily....you're an idiot.
Basically, I really enjoyed this movie. It reminded me a little of the Divergent series...which I got bored with after the first book. But I liked this because it felt like there was closure...it didn't feel like it was going to be dragged out over a trilogy just to make money. If you're into dystopian stuff....it is one of the better ones I have seen. Don't get me wrong, I love The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner Series, but the others are kind of lost to me. This one, however, really cool. Now....I need to go apologize to my mother and my grandmother for not watching this sooner. And mentally kick myself for being so damn judgmental when it comes to book covers. I guess I'm finally learning something in my old age, haha.
