May 1, 2017 · Watch the official trailer
Debate between individual privacy and global security strikes the heart of James Ponsoldt’s new film, “The Circle,” starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson.
Based on the Dave Eggers book of the same name, the film confronts the hotly contested debate between liberty and protection in complex, heavy terms often much too taxing for the average moviegoer.
The movie follows Mae (Watson), a new hire at the technological commune known as The Circle, which is essentially an evil version of Apple under Steve Jobs. The Jobs-esque character, Bailey, works as one of two heads of the company that develops incredible technology to simplify and at the same time surveil every action in a person’s life. This weighty material is much too complex for its intended teenage audience and often borders on the absurd in order to keep the momentum of the plot rolling forward.
It’s rare to see Hanks play a less than genuine character, though even in his perceived villainy it’s difficult to imagine Hanks’ Bailey as anything less than a tech-savvy iteration of Hanks himself. Not enough is in the script, or in Hanks’ performance, to pull audiences away from instinctively rooting for his character based on the fact Hanks is portraying the role no matter how sinister Bailey may actually be under the surface.
“Harry Potter” and “Beauty and the Beast” star Watson maintains her usual level of charm as Mae, but isn’t able to bring much depth beyond what little is written on the page. Her chemistry with the distinctly lackluster “Boyhood” star Ellar Coltrane as her outsider friend and possible love interest Mercer is incredibly unbelievable, mostly due to Coltrane’s stagnant, one-note performance.
In her own right, Watson commits fully to the role of Mae, thrusting her character forward as a driven, determined woman fighting for herself and for her family. The relationships she is able to build in short order with parents Bonnie (Glenne Headly) and Vinnie (Bill Paxton) are some of the most satisfying of the entire film despite the poorly conceived subplots which track Mae’s movements outside The Circle.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” star John Boyega is criminally underutilized as the original founder of the Circle working to keep the company working towards its original intention from within. Aside from one or two cursory scenes with Watson, Boyega is largely relegated to the background with the occasional cutaway to his Ty looking angrily on as all the “Circlers” as they are called become increasingly indoctrinated into the technologically socialist system.
“The Circle” is exceedingly technical in its verbosity at times, leaving audiences to ponder what in the world Hanks and Watson are pontificating about in their elitist discourse about existentialism.
Even the previous sentence, written especially to mimic the style of writing Ponsoldt did in adapting Eggers’ book to screenplay form, doesn’t hold a candle to the film’s unnecessary over-complication of the plot to make “The Circle” seem like heavier subject matter than it actually is.
As a director, Ponsoldt generally keeps “The Circle” moving at a relatively efficient pace although scenes shot outside the Circle have a definitive slower pace than moments with Hanks and Watson on screen together. “The Circle” often portrays itself to be a thinking man’s movie, but lacks the ability to connect with audience members in a way that would strike up conversation after a screening.
There isn’t anything overtly wrong with “The Circle” outside of Ponsoldt’s ineffective screenplay and ardent fans of Watson might find the entire cinematic experience worth two hours in the theaters. But for most, the lack of truly dynamic thrills combined with a subpar script puts the science-fiction drama outside the circle of films worth spending the extra dollars on in theaters.
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