Last month,USA Todaycalled Lois LowrysThe Giver[the] mother of all dystopian young-adult fiction titles.
The book is even now considered canonical for young readers and has sold over 12 million copies to date.
As a result, the film version ofThe Giverbarely resembles Lowrys novel.
Speaking of Asher, heres where it gets interesting.
Why would they make him a pilot?
One thing that has to be commended is Noyces use of color.
As readers of Lowrys book know, colors seep into Jonas world; they dont flood in.
However, Noyces film turns the Chief Elder into a villain.
In trying to make Streeps Chief Elder tyrannical, they actually squandered her presence.
A villain without a facei.e.
Orwells Big Brotheris always more ominous than a corporeal menace.
Theres no arguing that Jeff Bridges is fitting as the Giver.
His passion for the project comes through in his scenes, and he doesfeellike the Giver of Lowrys book.
But why the casting of Taylor Swift as Rosemary?
Its a head-scratcher of a move and an exploitative one at that.
The audience doesnt connect with the filmic Jonas as much as the literary one.
The last third of the movie is nearly unrecognizable.
While the films ending attempts to answer questions that Lowrys didnt, the overwrought action renders the effort moot.
Had they stayed closer to the source material, that might not be the case.
The question now becomes: What is next for dystopian YA?
The failure ofThe Giver, however, might spell a quelling of the YA assembly line.
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