This sci-fi drama had a sort of futuristic Pleasantville feel to it. A society atop a butte surrounded by clouds has found scientific ways to eliminate all human emotional aspects that might eventually lead to war. Including that their collective memory of basically all historical events has been left behind. Children once born are redistributed to other families, raised until age 18 and then assigned to permanent jobs. Not only hatred and jealousy but even love is suppressed, replaced by a warmth that's since and artificial. Only one citizen, designated the Receiver of Memory, is entrusted with the images and emotions at either end of the spectrum. When a new Receiver is named and his training begins, what happens when the shock is too much?
Dena and I enjoyed the movie, glad we went. For all you left-brained people who subconsciously analyze for reasonableness, do your best to turn that off. I felt like it took so much license with its fictional nature that the writers decided the ending didn't need to make sense, although it is a decidedly happy one.
Jeff Bridges does a fantastic job as the retiring Receiver (hence his self-imposed title of the Giver), far matured from his earliest roles like Starman. Meryl Streep does a solid job as the city's leader, though the role demanded little enough that a hundred other actresses could easily have filled it.
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