The Giver {Book vs. Movie}

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On Sunday, I watched the movie of The Giver. This is a collection of my thoughts about it. This post will have spoilers for both the book and movie, so if you don't want to know what happens, stop reading now.

The movie was actually pretty good. Graphically, it was very pretty. The transition from black-and-white to color was done very smoothly, and it looked very nice. On the whole, it was a quite good movie. But, it's not just a movie. All of my complaints come from where it differed from the book.

1. They aged all the characters up. I knew they were going to do it, and in some ways I understand why they did it, but it felt wrong.

2. The romantic sub-plot. Of course, this is one reason they aged them up. I really didn't like it. In the book, Jonas is really supposed to be completely alone, except for the Giver. But here, he had this companionship and understanding with Fiona that was just weird. And, when Jonas leaves, he promised her he'll come back.

This happens.

3. And, of course, most importantly, the ending. When Jonas left the community, we continued to see what happened there. We saw Fiona almost be killed for helping Jonas leave (what the heck?), we see the Giver almost give up all hope, and then we see the moment that all the memories are returned.

4. But for me, the worst part was the very last few seconds. In the book, the ending is left purposefully ambiguous. When I read the book for the first time, at the age of ten, that was what made it stick with me so strongly. But in the movie, Jonas sleds down the hill, and knows that the house is real. He made it. He gets up and walks, with Gabriel, towards the house.

These are my issues with the movie. The ageing up of the characters didn't bother me all that much, and if that had been the only major change they made, I wouldn't have been too bothered by it. The character of the Chief Elder (played by Meryl Streep), barely exists in the book, and had a major role in the movie. That doesn't bother me too much, and they integrated it well.

The Giver.

Jeff Bridges as the Giver was really great. He is the reason to watch the movie. He played a tortured man, tired with the world, but driven by grief and a deep sense of duty incredibly well. A lot of the acting in the movie was, well not at all bad, not that great (most of the main characters were played by unknown actors), but the adult characters (Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Katie Holmes, Alexander Skarsgard) were all very good.

Jonas is pretty cute, which is obviously a plus.

In the end, I enjoyed the movie a lot more than I expected it. While I can't give it a full recommendation,  I would recommend it with reservations. It's not a movie to avoid at all costs. It's good, just different.