'Divergent' with Shailene Woodley, directed by Neil Burger review

The long-awaited novel turned movie, Divergent, hit movie theaters this previous weekend, opening Thursday night, March 20th. It is no surprise the movie was so successful, considering that Veronica Roth’s original portrayal won multiple awards itself, including the number one in both 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards and YALSA’s Top Ten Teen Choice. It also debuted as #6 on the New York Times Children’s Chapter Books Best Seller, and it remained there for eleven years. However, its intriguing plot is not the sole contender in its success.

As with most movie adaptions, Divergent omits a few scenes and details from the novel to account both for the movie’s run time and overall plot sequence. Though as a Divergent (novel) reader myself, I value and respect some of the changes director Neil Burger prompted. Spoilers ahead!

Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews
For instance, Kate Winslet, aka. Jeanine Matthews, appeared in more scenes than the movie’s literary counterpart. This is likely to create more conflict and to give the wonderful Kate Winslet some more screen time. She appeared in the Dauntless compound on more than one occasion, rather than in just the ending as in the novel. She almost to have a trusting and amicable relationship with Tris, likely because of her fellow transfer Caleb, transferring to Erudite from Abnegation. She is even surprised when Tris reveals herself as a Divergent. In the novel, Matthews is consistently suspicious of Tris and she is not at all surprised. The movie’s portrayal of this trust allows a more dynamic characterization and development. No harm done.

Burger chooses to have Jeanine present in the final simulation room at the Dauntless compound, rather than having Four simply guard it. This creates more action, giving the film more excitement. We even get to see Tris nail Jeanine’s hand with a knife and see Jeanine influenced by the serum herself. I especially love this change. It allows the viewers to see Jeanine as a human; in the novel, it is very easy to picture Jeanine as an emotionless humanoid, but we love seeing the some-what humane portions of her! Bravo, Burger.

”I Just Four-Got Romance”
Readers are denied a few of the fan-favorite Four and Tris scenes from the novel. Though Burger included the biggies, we would have love to have seen more of the couple’s scenes. Granted, it is a PG-13 move, and we have account for that, yet there are some scenes should have made the cut.

The film fails to translate the romantic tension, Roth so brilliantly illustrated. We get to see what is supposed to be drunk Four, but he completely keeps his composure! We don’t get to see any of Four’s teasing of Tris’ use of the word, “boyfriend,” cuddle session in Four’s free landscape, or the train ride on the way back from Erudite headquarters! (Where Tris did NOT tell Caleb to research the simulation serum- sigh). In fact, Jeanine sent Tris home in her car. No train, no train scene. Eric did not even get angry at her leaving, and Four did not get the opportunity to come to her rescue. They did not even show Four and Tris’ big kiss celebrating her first place ranking after initiation.

Additionally, relationships among other characters were barely hinted. The relationship between Tris’ two best friends, Will and Christina failed to make a presence.

Peter as the Jokester
The novel portrays Peter as a vicious, violent, and over competitive initiate. In the film, he is given a more humorous outlook, constantly joking with Tris. Though, we did get the scene where Tris was almost thrown off the side of pit wall (with Al’s help), we were denied a lot of Peter’s evil-doings. Edward was not stabbed in the eye; in fact, Edward was barely mentioned at all; his name made a presence at the top of the rankings, yet he was not shown quitting the initiation to join the factionless. Tris and Peter’s fight was barely as ruthless as it could have been, though the thought of seeing Shailene Woodley beaten certainly does not please us!

Despite the clear artistic adaptions and discrepancies between Burger and Roth, Divergent managed to stay true to the book’s intention, and included most of the book’s pivotal scenes. Tris’ mother Natalie did come to visit (though not on visiting day, as that didn’t exist in the movie), Tris’ parents both sacrificed themselves for her, Al did commit suicide, and we got to see Four’s four fears and almost all of Tris’ six.

We applaud both Burger and the cast of Divergent. We are excited to see what the cast, and the new director (see why Neil Burger won’t be directing Insurgent here) brings us for the greatly anticipated sequel.

Photo Courtesy of Summit Entertainment

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