Divergent

Movie Title--  Divergent

Release Year--  2014

Running Time--  2 Hours and 14 Minutes

Director--  Neil Burger

Cast--  Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Tony Goldwyn, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Christian Madsen)

In a dystopian future, the population is separated into five different factions, each based on a different human virtue.  When Beatrice Prior learns that she is divergent and she will never fit into any of the faction groups but when she learns of a conspiracy to kill all of the divergents, she along with the help of the mysterious "Four" strive to learn what makes the divergents so dangerous.

In a futuristic dystopian Chicago, the population is separated into five factions, each based on different human virtues; Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), and Erudite (the intelligent).  Each year the 16 year old citizens are given an aptitude test that will help to guide them to which societal faction they belong in but they are also told that they can choose any faction they like but once they have chosen there is no going back.  They are taught to trust the test and that faction is life.  If a child chooses a faction that is not the same as their family, they are to break blood ties and their faction will become their family.

When Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) takes her aptitude test, her proctor from Dauntless, Tori (Maggie Q) tells her that she tested as Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless, making her Divergent.  Tori instructs Beatrice not to tell anyone that she tested divergent and that she manually entered Abnegation as her result.  She then tells Beatrice to go home and tell anyone that asks that the testing serum made her sick and that is the reason she was sent home early.

The next day at the choosing ceremony, Beatrice's brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) chooses Erudite without hesitation while Beatrice chooses Dauntless after some consideration.  As she boards the train that will take all the new initiates to Dauntless territory she meets Christina (Zoe Kravitz), Al (Christian Madsen) and Will (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) who have also chosen to become Dauntless and move away from their birth factions.  The initiates are forced to jump off the train where they are greeted by Eric (Jai Courtney), one of the brutal leaders of the Dauntless.  They are told that they are to make a leap off the building into a deep hole or they will become factionless.  Beatrice volunteers to go first, earning her the nickname first jumper.  At the bottom she meets Four (Theo James), the initiates trainer and when he asks her name, she shortens it to Tris.

Initially Tris has trouble fitting in with the other Dauntless initiates but she puts in some extra practice, slowly rising through the ranks.  When she gets to the second part of her training Four discovers that she is a Divergent.  They soon discover the Erudite's plot to take over the government and destroy the Divergents, so together the two of them set out to find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous.  

I will just say, for the record, I LOVED this film.  I will also add that I never read the books (which I am going to look into now that I have seen the film) so I am not completely sure how much the film deviates from the books.  There are a few flaws, the biggest example I have is, you can see the love story coming from a mile away.  Other than the few minor flaws, overall, it was great.  

I think that Shailene Woodley and Theo James are just great.  I love the performance the two of them give and I was drawn in the entire time.  The story is told in a way that catches and holds the viewer's attention.  There are three more films scheduled to come out, so I am interested in seeing what the films progress into.

I would recommend this film to anyone.  If you are looking for an interesting film to view, this is a good one, not to be missed.  Curl up on the couch, put your electronic devices on silent and Don't Forget the Popcorn!