In 2011, Veronica Roth’s debut novel “Divergent” took the teen dystopian future story audience by storm. It fit into the oversaturated genre well, but despite immediate popularity the book didn’t stand out much as it lacked both originality and finesse in execution. The same can be said of the film adaptation, released March 21.
If nothing else, “Divergent” the film is faithful to its source material. From the very beginning it embraces Roth’s “tell, don’t show” philosophy by opening with voiceover about society’s five factions, delivered by our heroine, Tris Prior. The pacing of the story – long, intense training montages framed briefly by the real plot – makes it drag through its 139 minutes, just as the novel did for 487 pages. If you forget about Divergence in the meantime, we understand. Between teens jumping onto trains and pummeling each other with their bare hands, there’s not much time to think about essential plot points.
As for the actors, they were well cast. Shailene Woodley as Tris spends most of her time watching the action with a blank face. She rarely even raises her voice. Woodley looks the part but is frankly dull and only has two facial expressions: neutral and vaguely happy. In other words, she’s a perfect Tris.
Theo James as Four, Tris’s love interest, is gruff, standoffish and devoid of all convincing emotion – just like book-Four. But James isn’t good at emoting subtleties, so the complex lines and actions that were intended to reveal his character’s hidden depths end up falling flat. See the movie’s rendition of the popular quote, “Fear doesn’t shut you down; it wakes you up.” On the page, tender words. In the film, James rushes through them at a mumble. The audience can’t savor it before the moment is gone.
But even the most lackluster casts can have hidden gems and “Divergent” has two. Jai Courtney is Eric, Tris’ sadistic instructor. It’s not that Courtney’s acting is particularly remarkable – Eric is an uncomplicated jerk –he’s just the only one who looks like he’s having any fun. He captures the character’s cruelty with charm and ease. Even when Eric forces an initiate to dangle over a chasm, shoots someone in the leg for speaking out of turn, and makes Tris stand still while Four hurls knives at her, you enjoy every second of him.
Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews, the movie’s Big Bad, stands out for other reasons. Her character is as unemotional as Tris and Four, but in Winslet’s hands that calm hides a seething pool of unspoken motivations and delicate subtext. She plays the role with commanding grace, turning small talk and speeches about peace into dire threats. Winslet greatly improves on the character simply by implying real reasoning and emotion behind her actions. The novel’s Jeanine had no such nuance.
But the best single moment of acting comes, unexpectedly, from Miss Woodley. Toward the end Tris suffers a devastating loss. After two hours of straight faces, Woodley brings out heartbreakingly convincing sobs and screams of anguish. What was holding her back before? If Woodley had always displayed that level of emotion, we could’ve had a truly moving story on our hands.
In the end, book fans will like this movie. As adaptations go it’s a good one, with crisp cinematography, well-choreographed fight scenes, and lines translated directly from page to screen. But casual viewers and newcomers will struggle to care about the characters. There’s no vulnerability, not even a clear-cut moral cause to support.
In a story that revolves around facing and overcoming one’s worst fears, none of the actors pull off believable terror. They’re supposed to be tough and brave, yes, but if we’re meant to feel with them, they have to lead the way. See Katniss Everdeen and Harry Potter. Being visibly scared and lost doesn’t make them weak. It makes them human. And when scared humans overcome the impossible, we come away believing we can do the same.
“Divergent” doesn’t give us that gratification. Instead we get aggressive stony-faced teens enduring fear-based hallucinations that never seem more than mildly stressful. They say they’re scared and struggling, but we simply don’t believe them. It’s hard to admire someone whose actions don’t line up with their words. At best they come off as inconsistent. At worst they’re untrustworthy liars.
