Divergent is the first film in a planned trilogy based on the works of author Veronica Roth. Summit, the same studio that produced Twilight and The Hunger Games, is betting their latest young adult adaptation will be equally as successful. They may have a winner at the box office, but have failed utterly to make a compelling film. Divergent is a pedantic snoozer that rehashes every futuristic dystopian theme. It was a struggle to sit through two and a half hours of entirely predictable tweener angst. I can only guess that the novel was more engaging because the movie is a dud.

Shailene Woodley stars as Beatrice, a girl coming of age in future Chicago. The prologue states that society has been reformed into five factions after an apocalyptic war. Abnegation are the selfless, and deemed to rule because of their benevolence. Dauntless are the brave warrior class that protects. Candor are the honest that judge. Amity are the peaceful that farm. And finally Erudite are the intelligent that make the laws. Beatrice's parents (Ashley Judd and Tony Goldywn) are leaders of Abnegation and important council members. On their eighteenth birthday, the youth are given a test to place them in their faction. Regardless of the test result, they can choose what faction to join in a ceremony. But there are a few that exhibit no traits for any faction during the test and are considered divergent. These factionless people have no place in society and are deemed threats to the system.

Needless to say, Beatrice is divergent. Her tester (Maggie Q) covers up the results of the examination and warns her to be careful. Beatrice shocks her parents and chooses to be Dauntless. She changes her name to Tris, and embarks on the brutal Dauntless training regime. At first she struggles with physical violence, but uses her intellect to better her classmates. Her instructor, Four (Theo James), begins to notice her different reactions to the tests. He takes her under his wing and a romance develops. They both notice that Dauntless and the Erudites are engaged in a conspiracy, with the icy Erudite leader - Jeanine (Kate Winslet); calling the shots.

Divergent has many problems, but Shailene Woodley is not one of them. It is rare for a film to fail with a decent performance from the lead. Woodley is fine as Tris. She plays the character well, a curious teenager that finds the strength to be heroic. I wish that alone could have propped up Divergent, but it does not. Divergent is very slow. The film plods along at a snail pace. The plot is banal and obvious. Everything unveils as expected without a whiff of surprise or nuance. The baddies are entirely predictable with the big conspiracy being spectacularly obvious. It would be helped if the action, special effects, or production design was engaging. Unfortunately that's not the case and it makes Divergent a boring film.

Neil Burger has had success as a director. I enjoyed his previous films, The Illusionist and Limitless. He strikes out here with Divergent. Burger has essentially made an uninteresting film. Audiences have seen teens rebel against dystopia. Divergent needed more across the board to grab you. Thankfully Woodley holds her own or it would have been a total disaster. There are also some truck sized holes in the plot, but I won't quibble because I'm not sure it would have made a real difference to the entertainment value. Let's hope the inevitable sequel is better.