The guys cast here are actually able to hold their own with the awesome female cast!

Rating: 10/10 (24 March 2014)

'DIVERGENT': Five Stars (Out of Five)
Big budget adaptation of the popular youth book about a future world where society is divided into different factions based on people's beliefs and ethics. The hero of the story is a young woman who doesn't fit into any category, so she's labeled a 'divergent', which makes her a threat to government and the accepted conformist way of life. It stars Shailene Woodley as the divergent heroine and co-stars Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, Zoë Kravitz, Tony Goldwyn and Maggie Q. It was directed by Neil Burger and written by Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor (based on the book by Veronica Roth). I enjoyed it quite a bit and found it to be one of the better youth book film adaptations ever made.
The story is set sometime in the future, after a war which divides the remaining civilization into five different factions (that are supposed to represent a person's skills and virtues). There's amity (which are the people who are the most peaceful), abnegation (made up of the selfless), candor (the most honest), erudite (the most intelligent) and dauntless (the world's most brave and fearless). There comes a time when teenagers must make a choice to either stay in the faction they were raised in or pick another. First they take a test which tells them which faction they belong in. Beatrice Prior, who later goes by Tris (Woodley), fails the test and is known by what society calls 'divergent' (due to the fact that she doesn't belong in any faction). Divergent people are seen as a threat to society, since they don't conform, and are killed because of it. Tris joins dauntless and must survive a rigorous testing process, in order to be accepted there, while also keeping her divergent status a secret. At the same time she learns there's a plot by one faction to overthrow another.
I really like the setup to this sci-fi tale; it's interesting, complex and very entertaining at the same time. Burger (who won't return for the two planned sequels) and the screenwriters did a great job of bringing this world to life on screen. It's intense and very emotional at times. One of my favorite parts of the film is the performances; I think Woodley is an amazing talent to watch out for and is very impressive as the lead here. Usually the male actors suck in these youth book adaptation flicks but the guys cast in this are actually able to hold their own with the awesome female cast. I thought James looked horrible in the previews but he's not bad in his role at all. I also think Jai Courtney is always interesting to watch and it's funny to see Miles Teller as Woodley's bitter rival (after last seeing those two as lovers in 'THE SPECTACULAR NOW', which was one of the best movies of last year). Winslet, Judd, Q and especially Woodley are all of course outstanding in the female roles and I thought the whole film was just really well put together. I especially liked the main message of the movie; that it's good to be different and an independent thinker (even if you're seen as a threat to the conformist way of life) because being unique is definitely something to look up to. It's great that 'THE HUNGER GAMES' has raised the bar so high for movies like this because now we get much better quality films because of it!
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