47
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Washington PostAnn HornadayWashington PostAnn HornadayIn its own way, the movie version — handsomely directed by Phillip Noyce and featuring an appealing, sure-footed cast of emerging and veteran actors — aptly reflects The Giver’s pride of place as the one that started it all, or at least the latest wave.
- 67Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenThe film begins to get a bit lost as the story develops and pushes toward a wobbly climax and conclusion. And what to make of that sled, which is the first bit of knowledge Jonas receives. Rosebud, anyone?
- 63New York PostSara StewartNew York PostSara StewartThe Giver is at its best when Bridges expounds on civilization’s lost beauty and savagery; at other times, it’s strewn with implausibility: For a totalitarian society in which everyone is monitored constantly, our hero is able to sneak around an awful lot.
- 63McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMcClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreWhile The Giver scores points for being smarter and deeper than “The Hunger Games” or its inferior photo-copy (“Divergent”), coming after all those other versions of this plot does neither it, nor us, any favors. The Giver has nothing new to offer.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeA lazy ending mars this fine, if generic, take on a much-loved YA novel.
- 50VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasThe Giver reaches the screen in a version that captures the essence of Lowry’s affecting allegory but little of its mythic pull.
- 50TheWrapInkoo KangTheWrapInkoo KangThe Giver is an anti-totalitarian allegory so farcically hyperbolic it feels like only a teenager could have come up with it.
- 20The DissolveTasha RobinsonThe DissolveTasha RobinsonMostly the problem is that every aspect of The Giver feels both painfully familiar and like an awkward, unsupportable stretch. For a film about the deep, hidden dangers of enforced sameness, that’s almost hilariously ironic.