Divergent

dvd of the week

In the world of Divergent, everyone who has survived a horrible, global war now lives in Chicago, which is surrounded by a massive wall and where the population has been divided into five factions: Abnegation, who are selfless civil servants; Amity, who the peaceful, hippy famers; Candor, who are honest lawyers; Dauntless, who are the brave soldiers and police officers; and Erudite, who are the scholars and intellectuals. Beatrice (Woodley) was born into Abnegation, of which her father (Tony Goldwyn) is a leader and her mother (Ashley Judd) a dutiful supporter. When Beatrice and her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) go to find out which faction they belong to, the tester (Maggie Q) nervously tells Beatrice that she shows abilities and behaviors that indicate multiple factions. She is “divergent,” and the divergent threaten social order. Usually, once they are discovered, they’re killed. Beatrice hides the truth and claims to belong to Dauntless, while her brother goes to Erudite, run by a coldly scheming Jeanine (Kate Winslet). Beatrice leaves with the others from Dauntless, who like to run everywhere, climb things and jump without knowing if they’ll survive. She renames herself Tris, befriends other initiates (including Zoe Kravitz as Cristina), and while training, makes an enemy of her dastardly trainer Eric (Jai Courtney) while falling in love with her other trainer, the serious and smoldering Four (Theo James). Meanwhile, Jeanine is up to something, conspiring with Dauntless’ leaders to overthrow Abnegation’s rule. Because Woodley is such a great actress, she makes what is otherwise a run-of-the-mill dystopic adventure almost special. Her chemistry with James is great, and the film’s explosive third act makes the sequel more urgent.