What happens when Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep get together to make a movie about pseudo-religious freaks that control minds, kill old people (and babies that are slightly defective) all while creating a perfect utopia for a small society? You get The Giver.
Strangely enough, I actually found this movie watchable to some extent. Brenton Thwaites had just played the role of prince Phillip in Maleficent (brilliant film, btw), before which he was relatively unknown. Odeya Rush is one of those young actresses everyone will be tripping over when she turns 18. Not hugely popular, this film may have given her a little bump in her career.
Alexander Skarsgard started his career in Sweden and wound up in a couple decent television series here and there in the past decade. You might recall he was in Melancholia and Battleship a few years back.
The basic idea is there's this utopia place, and Jeff Bridges is the keeper of knowledge that no one else in the entire society is allowed to know because it's all the secrets of the world before the society was created. War, injustice, horrible things done to the environment, death, destruction, etc etc etc. This old guy the Giver selects this new kid (uh, the Givee?) and transfers this knowledge through touch just like magic, man!
With all this knowledge and power, the kid gets stupid and starts trying to escape from this perfect baby-killing utopia outside the borders of their land. He does so by stealing some kind of air bike thing and riding out into the desert, completely unprepared, and then through snowy mountains, to a cabin of people singing christmas carols. We don't know if he ever makes it to the cabin, but he does get past the magical towers.
Oh, yeah. So there are these towers, and if this kid, the givee, can get past the towers, then magically everyone in this baby-killing utopia will suddenly have all the memories he has (the good, the bad, the ugly) and everything will change. For the good? For the bad? Who knows, doubt we'll see a sequel to this, and doubt it will even be as mediocre as this film was.
Not seeing Katie Holmes naked: 9
Seeing Jeff Bridges in a robe and slippers again: 6
Wishing Odeya Rush was just a couple years older in this film: 6
Completely easy to figure out plot twists: 8
Teenage love: 4
Completely obvious references to religious cult : 9
For a grand total of 7, which is a completely meaningless number designed to help in no way shape or form.
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