- Actors: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Patton Oswalt
- Director: James Ponsoldt
- Film Format: AC-3, Color, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Region: Region A/1
- Number of discs: 2
- Rated: PG-13
- Studio: LIONSGATE
- Release Date: August 1, 2017
- Run Time: 110 minutes
The Circle has potential in its message
to carry searing message or political commentary, but screenwriters James
Ponsoldt and Dave Eggers (adapted from his novel) are as uncommitted to a
single viewpoint as their film is to a genre. Bouncing back and forth between
playful satire and sci-fi melodrama, The
Circle never actually delivers on the suspense that was promised by the
marketing campaign. The result is the feeling that the movie ends before ever
digging beneath the surface of its own premise, an error that no amount of
opportunistic casting can save the film from.
Presumably set
in the near future, the film follows a young woman’s journey into a powerful
tech company that threatens to become even more of a monopoly as it develops
new ideas that threaten basic privacy. But Mae (Emma Watson) is mostly just
happy to have landed a job with a healthy paycheck and benefits she can use to
help her ailing father (Bill Paxton). When the company begins to intrude on her
privacy, Mae is still hesitant to accept that there is something wrong with the
company. Even when the friend (Karen Gillan) that got her the job is on the
verge of breakdown and the man responsible for most of the tech developments
(John Boyega) gives her a tour of the company’s dangerous plans to abuse his
inventions, Mae stays loyal to the company, for unexplained reasons.
The film goes to
great lengths to show how thoughtful and intelligent Mae is in the opening
scenes, only to spend a majority of the film watching her take forever to come
to the same conclusion as the audience and nearly every character around her.
And that only happens by putting Mae through the most manipulative of
melodramatic sequences. Some credit for Mae’s gullibility must be given to the
charm of The Circle’s founder, Bailey (Tom Hanks). Hanks utilizes his natural
charm, as he often does, but this time in service of a character with the
sincerity of a salesman. Bailey knows he is likeable, and uses that as a tool
to get people to do what he wants.
Even though the
company presumably employs an unfathomable number on their expansive campus,
Bailey takes a shine to newcomer Mae, perhaps in seeing the potential to
exploit her. After a brief period working at the company, Mae becomes an icon by
volunteering to give up all privacy and allowing herself to be filmed at all
times. This evolves from the simple plan to use a website to gather information
about consumers, a controversial practice that occurs online today, and it is
clear what near future dangers Eggers and Ponsoldt are hinting at. The problem
is that they remain far too passive in commenting on this practice, especially
considering how willing they are to stray into melodramatic territory for the
film’s conclusion.
Even without a strong
message or clear genre to exist in, it seems that the casting of The Circle was meant to bring in an
audience from the fanbase alone. Tom Hanks playing against type (at least under
the surface) is a worthwhile reason to endure some of the shakier elements in
the film, but this is far from Watson’s strongest work. Often her efforts to
imitate a buoyant American accent make her character feel somewhat contrived,
and it is never clear if that is something her character is doing intentionally
while under observation or just a bit of overacting on Watson’s part. And those
who watch this film simply to see Boyega in a film outside of the Star Wars universe are likely to be let
down, as his participation is little more than that of a cameo. In the end, the
movie feels as constructed by false veneers used for advertising as the company
it condemns.
The Blu-ray
release for The Circle comes with a
DVD and a Digital HD copy of the film. Even without the action sequences,
Ponsoldt makes use of creative use of his visual style to convey the mass of
online followers Mae has. This may not make the film any more exciting, but it
does enhance the high definition viewing experience. The extras on the actual
discs include a four-part making-of featurette, as well as a featurette about
the advancements in technology that the film is commenting on, and a memoriam
featurette for Paxton, who passed away shortly after making this movie.
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5.5/10
Historical
Significance: 5/10
Special Features: 4.5/10
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