It's hard to feel sorry for a film this stale, cliché and predictably maudlin.

Divergent begins with a strikingly distinctive image, but just as quickly segues into awkward storytelling. The camera tracks across a golden, bucolic field, broken by a desolate, beached cargo ship. It’s an unsettling juxtaposition, further cemented by images of a future Chicago cityscape of decayed skyscrapers. In a voiceover, protagonist Tris Pior (Shailene Woodley) breaks down the social structure of …