The Circle

Sometimes dumb movies happen to smart people, and that is definitely the case with The Circle.  Here is a movie so sloppily constructed, you're surprised to see the people who keep on turning up in it, as well as reading some of the names who were behind the camera.  The director is the usually reliable James Ponsoldt (of The Spectacular Now), who co-wrote the script with author Dave Eggers (the film is based on one of his novels).  And the cast includes such talents as Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega (of Star Wars), Patton Oswalt, and even the late Bill Paxton in his final screen role.  It even seems to have a potent message about how technology is taking over our lives, and is destroying human contact.  So, what went wrong?

Everything would be one way to describe it.  This is what happens when you throw a lot of great talent at a project that wasn't ready to be filmed in the first place.  Again, I must use the words sloppily constructed, as the movie never has a clear focus as to what it's about.  It kicks off with a young woman named Mae (Watson), who has a dead-end job and is trying to care for her ailing father (Paxton).  A close friend of hers hooks her up with a job with The Circle, a massive Internet company that seems to be a cross between Facebook and Google, with a touch of Apple thrown in.  The company is largely out there to make information as free as possible.  It seems to be a fun place to work, with its college campus atmosphere, all night parties and concerts, and the friendly CEO Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks, in Steve Jobs mode), who holds weekly team meetings which he calls "Dream Fridays".  There are those who think Bailey wants to control all the information on the web, but the guy has this calm, folksy way about him that brings people together.  He claims he just wants to make the Internet a better and safer place.

Mae is immediately taken in by the friendly and supportive atmosphere of the company.  Bailey even goes so far as, when he finds out about her sick father, to give him total medical coverage that will save his life.  But, little by little, a darker side behind the company is revealed.  It all begins when Mae runs into one of the founders of the company named Ty (Boyega), who likes to slink about in the shadows of the campus, and pop up now and then and warn Mae that things are not what they seem at The Circle.  He's concerned about the company's latest product, SeeChange, which is made up of tiny cameras that can be placed anywhere, and can see anything and anyone at anytime.  Mae seems concerned at first, but after a while, she quickly turns into a total supporter of the company with little logic or payoff.  She begins a social experiment where she attaches one of the cameras to herself, so that every moment of her life can be filmed and watched by anyone.  This is an idea that was done much better back in 1998 with The Truman Show.

The Circle takes an extremely simple minded approach to its own dilemma, as characters can be placed in only two camps - Those who live completely off the grid and don't trust technology in any form, and those who are complete cultists to The Circle itself.  Mae has a love interest (Ellar Coltrane from Boyhood) who lives in the woods, and likes to make decorations out of deer antlers.  He gets to spout a lot of phony-sounding and preachy anti-technology speeches in the few scenes where he shows up.  The movie simply seems confused about what it wants to say about its message, and about its characters.  Sometimes it seems to be trying to make us fearful of big Internet companies, and other times, it actually seems to be trying to make an argument for them.  I can understand wanting to look at both sides of a debate, but when there's just no tissue to hold the narrative together, it simply becomes a giant mess with a lot of lost-looking actors wandering about the screen.

And do these actors ever suffer here from the material they've been given.  Emma Watson seems just as confused as I was about what arc her character is supposed to be taking.  And while it's interesting to see Tom Hanks tackling the role of a possibly shady executive, he never quite sheds his sunny and charming personality.  He's there simply to make speeches when the movie requires one, but is never quite built up to be the villain that the movie wants him to be.  The movie doesn't even do a good job of explaining why he takes such a big interest in Mae in the first place, which makes it seem more like plot convenience than anything else.  John Boyega simply pops up now and then to either warn Mae about what's really going on, or to stand in the shadows and look disappointed at her when she seems to be completely taken in by the company.  Why he's helping her is also not explained very well, as is the fact that even though he is one of the founders of The Circle, yet nobody seems to recognize him.   And poor Patton Oswalt is given so little to do as Hanks' right-hand-man, his role basically consists of him standing next to Hanks, and smiling or looking concerned.

There are some moments that hint at things that could have been interesting.  When Mae decides to go "fully transparent", and film her entire life so that people can watch her on line at all times, it seems to be leading up to some strong satirical elements of our viral video culture.  But, very little is done with this idea once it is introduced, and again, it simply makes us think back on how The Truman Show did this exact same idea much better almost 20 years ago.  There are also a couple nice scenes concerning Mae's parents, especially Paxton, who is the only actor here able to deliver a performance that makes us sympathize with them.  You do wish his final role could have been a much better one, but at least you can tell that he's giving his small role a lot of effort.  More than this movie probably deserved.

The Circle is easily the biggest disappointment of 2017 so far.  With all this talent involved, you would at least expect something to come out of it, and yet it offers nothing but confusion, and sketchy ideas and characters.  It features an expensive cast, when the money would have been better spent punching up the script, and making it into something that doesn't read like a first draft. 

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