by Ally Condie is a dystopian teen love story involving a love triangle and a rebellion. I know, I know, it sounds like you've read this before. But, this time, there's a difference. The characters in the story don't know that their society has gone wrong. They think it's a utopia. They like that they have no choices; that their government has complete control over their lives, can modify their memories, chooses their life partners, how many kids they'll have and when... it seems perfect to them. And it is a very, very good book. Cassia Reyes is our main star. She's a good girl. At the very beginning of the book, she gets Matched, meaning she now, at the age of 17, knows who she will marry. Her government has decided who her perfect genetic soul mate is and has Matched them together for the rest of their simple, predictable lives. They begin dating now and will marry when they are 21. Cassia wants nothing more than to be Matched and live that simple life. However, a glitch in the system shows her another path: choice. As time goes by, she develops her sense of individuality and begins, in tiny ways, to buck the system. She wants to choose her life. In the beginning, I had a picture of Emma Roberts firmly in my mind.
However, as time went on, that picture morphed into Emma Watson. I guess she's a just a bit more rebellious in my mind... I don't know. I think both of these girls could handle the role and would do a good job.
Xander is Cassia's Match. He is handsome and sweet. He has not one rebellious bone in his body, and he is thrilled with this Match. He and Cassia have been best friends since they were very young, and he thinks this Match is the best thing that could ever have happened to him. He's just a plain old nice guy, and you feel so sad for him by the end of the story. There are not a lot of Hollywood boys who look "sweet," but Sterling Knight is one of them.
Ky Markham is an Aberration. He is being held responsible for an Infraction of some kind that his father committed and therefore is not allowed to be Matched (or procreate, for that matter, how's THAT for government interference?). His assigned vocation is a hard, dangerous, thankless job and he will likely die an early death as a result. He's sad and a touch angry at the Society for the way things are working. He's a young man with a burden so heavy, you can see it in his eyes. I immediately thought of Trevor Morgan.
Cassia's Official, Official Standler, is a hard woman. She's steel all over; she expects people to follow the rules, and she's the one who has been put in place, essentially, to make sure Cassia follows the rules. I like Joely Richardson. She looks kinda tough to me.
Cassia's parents are fairly young, compared to our standards today. In this Society, each couple must be completed with child bearing by age 31. Cassia's younger brother was delivered just a few weeks before his mother hit the cut off age, and he is 7 years younger than Cassia. So, Cassia's parents were 23 when she was born, and would therefor be exactly 40 years old as this story is taking place.
Molly Reyes is Cassia's mother. She's in the agricultural vocation, and as such is an expert on vegetables, flowers and all other plants. She is also considered an Official, and she makes reports about her area of expertise. It turns out she has a burden as well, and that her work presses on her harder than most people realize. She ultimately makes a very difficult decision, and while she has her reasons, a lot of people will disagree with her. But, I think she needs to still be likable, and for that reason, I think of somebody like Robin Wright.
Abran Reyes is Cassia's father. He's an Official in the Historical "Preservation" arena. They oversee the preservation of things the government deems important and appropriate, and the destruction of all else. He's a sympathetic man, and he wears his heart on his sleeve. You know when he hurts and you just want to give him a hug. A man like Patrick Dempsey would play this well.
Grandfather is an interesting character. He was one of the last of a generation that could bear children whenever they wanted, and as such he is now 80 years old and scheduled to die. Yes, scheduled to die. He also carries an important secret; one that puts our story in motion.
Let me interrupt myself here for a bit. I know I should NEVER go around and look at other fantasy casts, because they mostly make me want to throttle my computer. Alas, once in awhile, I break the rules and I go looking. Out of morbid curiosity, you could say. You want to know the most popular actor being fantasy cast for Grandfather, an eighty year old man on his deathbed? No. Do you really wanna know? Cause I'll tell you.
Anyway. Back to what I was talking actually about. A man nearer to eighty who can pull off the wisdom, the clarity and the importance of this role. I pick Robert Duvall.
