“I’d like to think there’s more to a person than just one thing.” That’s a line spoken by Shailene Woodley in the indie romance “The Spectacular Now.” Now Woodley stars in “Divergent,” in which that line has been blown up into a complex metaphor and the crux of everything that happens in this dystopian sci-fi action movie based on Veronica Roth’s popular YA novel.
It’s a strong idea, but a shaky premise. “Divergent” is so devoted to the notion that an individual can have multiple personality traits, whether in its plot, dialogue or narrative fabric, it smacks as a largely strained story telling device rather than part of a fleshed out idea or story universe.
That may be a swipe at Roth’s novel more so than the film, but it would matter less if the direction by Neil Burger (“Limitless”) took a lesson from Roth and likewise displayed an individual style and personality. Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor’s script is too faithful to its source material to distinguish itself in the way that its peer “The Hunger Games” has. Continue reading “Divergent”