The latest player in the young adult adaptation sweepstakes in “The Giver,” which is based on a 1993 novel by Lois Lowry, but has the unfortunate timing of coming out the same year as “Divergent,” with both films sharing uncomfortably similar plot elements. “The Giver” also shares clunky filmmaking lowlights with “Divergent,” emerging as the latest production to bungle basic cinematic cohesiveness in a mad dash to preserve all details great and small. The screenplay is stiff and literal, while direction from Philip Noyce is confused, unable to conquer genuinely poor acting and make sense out of this funereal futureworld adventure. Striving to unearth the next big thing in teen cinema, the production doesn’t take the time to step back and exhaustively assess just how impenetrable the material is. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com