Divergent - 3 1/2 smiles

Much like Hunger Games, “Divergent” takes place in a rigidly structured, dystopian future where one extraordinary girl will serve either as its destroyer or its savior. And it’s the performances, namely from stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James and from Kate Winslet in a juicy supporting role, that make the movie engaging. “Divergent” is all about identity, about searching your soul and determining who you are and how you fit in as you emerge from adolescence to adulthood. Woodley and James have an easy chemistry with each other, but it’s Woodley who makes for an appealing complex Tris, a heroine whose sense of loss at leaving her family behind, along with her sense of identity, is tempered by the thrill of discovering new powers and she keeps us rooting for her.

In the fenced-off remnants of post-war Chicago 100 years from now, society has been broken down into five factions or groups of people arranged by a primary, defining trait. The Amity are happy, hippie-like farmers who grow food for everyone. The Candor run the judicial system and value truth above all else. The Edudite are the serious-minded scholars. The Abnegation are known for their selflessness and modesty. The pierced-and-tattooed Dauntless are the brave soldiers who guard and protect the city. Woodley’s Beatrice Prior is a member of Abnegation along with her brother, Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and their parents (Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn). When she undergoes the aptitude test required of all teens to determine which faction is the best reflection of one’s true nature, her results are inconclusive. She’s got pieces of a few different groups in her, which makes her a Divergent, something dangerous and kept secret. At the annual Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice dares to choose Dauntless. This means she can never see her family again. But it also means she gets to train to unleash the bad-ass that’s been lurking inside her all along. Renaming herself Tris, she learns how to fight, shoot, jump from moving trains, throw knives and control her mind in a series of harrowing simulations, all while competing against a couple dozen other initiates in a demanding ranking system. Eric (Jai Courtney) is the merciless Dauntless leader who’s taking the faction in a militant and vicious direction. But the hunky trainer who goes by the name of Four (James) is the one who will have a greater impact on the woman Tris will become. It will be interesting to see the other two films as Tris and Four attempt to learn what’s really going on in their world. (“Insurgent” is due in theaters next March.) 3/21/14