There was a good film somewhere in 'The Circle' that sadly almost never comes out. You couldn't argue with a cast this talented, though there were admittedly reservations about Emma Watson and Ellar Coltrane. And the premise was absolutely fascinating, touching on themes that are relevant today and important.
As a film, 'The Circle' is certainly not awful but it is sad that a film with so much potential frustrates more than it intrigues. It is not a complete waste and there are merits. Most of the cast do fare well. The best performance comes from Bill Paxton, moving doesn't describe adequately his heart-breaking turn as Mae's multiple sclerosis-riddled father, a more physical role than verbal in showing the latter stages of MS and it comes over incredibly realistically. Close behind is a sympathetic Glenne Headly, her mother figure full of maternal warmth and sympathetic sincerity. Unfortunately both died not long after, both sudden and both were and still are very sad losses. They were the only characters that one feels anything for throughout.
Not to say that they are the only good actors. Despite being underused, with the character not featuring in the film for a quite long stretch, Tom Hanks makes a valiant effort and brings a lot of much needed charisma and energy whenever he appears. Patton Oswalt is similarly good and Karen Gillan is a breath of fresh air in her scenes.
Some of 'The Circle' doesn't look too bad, it's nicely shot with some lovely locations, especially in the otherwise fairly repetitive and pointless kay-acking scenes.
However, although not a detractor of her work, Emma Watson is woefully miscast, and the come and go accent is the least of the performance's problems. She tries far too hard with some very overwrought dialogue delivery, while seeming stiff and ill at ease in the speeches (a far cry from Hanks' delivery of his introductory scene which had me and my sister glued to the screen and on the edge of our seats), her grief doesn't ring true due to a lack of genuine emotion and she came over as too smug, aloof and self-congratulatory at the end. Despite Watson's miscasting, she fares a little better than Ellar Coltrane, found him uneven in 'Boyhood', here he was terrible in one of the most painfully amateurish performances seen recently as a barely-in-it plot device character. John Boyega has nothing to do other than look moody, a waste of a hugely promising rising star.
While there are a few elements of the production values that work, 'The Circle' looks a little too gloomily lit and there is a lack of fluidity in the editing. Don't remember a single note from Danny Elfman's score, which is one of his most generic and eminently forgettable efforts. James Ponsoldt's direction is very slack, which badly affects the never-coming-to-life pacing.
Found a lot of the script stilted, over-complicated (with an overload of technical jargon that confuses and alienates the viewer) and self-indulgent. It also tries to touch on the relevant and important theme of the dangers of media, the internet and technology but instead approaches it in a way that talks down to the viewer and uncomfortably condescends. Tonally, it's muddled, trying to be a psychological thriller, drama with a George Orwell and '1984' influence, philosophy and workplace coming-of-age drama, and never really succeeds at any of them.
It's just too half-hearted and half-baked in delivery with as aforementioned convoluted and shoe-horned technical jargon. What it tries to say about the theme it addresses is nothing new or enlightening and has the subtlety of a sledgehammer. The philosophical elements are far too simplistic and the workplace/coming-of-age scenes are too few and almost irrelevant.
Unfortunately, it fares just as badly in the story. It's often incredibly dull and repetitive with a fairly incoherent beginning before Hanks shows up. The whole totalitarian and evil intentions of the tech company are blatantly obvious too early and beaten around the viewer's heads, their actions (especially the finding people in 20 minutes or less) are highly improbable too. The death scene was poorly edited, cheap, hollow and manipulative and the climax seemed to contradict the film's dangerous and unsubtle messaging. Only the scenes with the parents have any emotion or ring true, wish there was more of them.
Overall, a missed opportunity that could have been good if executed right. 4/10 Bethany Cox.
As a film, 'The Circle' is certainly not awful but it is sad that a film with so much potential frustrates more than it intrigues. It is not a complete waste and there are merits. Most of the cast do fare well. The best performance comes from Bill Paxton, moving doesn't describe adequately his heart-breaking turn as Mae's multiple sclerosis-riddled father, a more physical role than verbal in showing the latter stages of MS and it comes over incredibly realistically. Close behind is a sympathetic Glenne Headly, her mother figure full of maternal warmth and sympathetic sincerity. Unfortunately both died not long after, both sudden and both were and still are very sad losses. They were the only characters that one feels anything for throughout.
Not to say that they are the only good actors. Despite being underused, with the character not featuring in the film for a quite long stretch, Tom Hanks makes a valiant effort and brings a lot of much needed charisma and energy whenever he appears. Patton Oswalt is similarly good and Karen Gillan is a breath of fresh air in her scenes.
Some of 'The Circle' doesn't look too bad, it's nicely shot with some lovely locations, especially in the otherwise fairly repetitive and pointless kay-acking scenes.
However, although not a detractor of her work, Emma Watson is woefully miscast, and the come and go accent is the least of the performance's problems. She tries far too hard with some very overwrought dialogue delivery, while seeming stiff and ill at ease in the speeches (a far cry from Hanks' delivery of his introductory scene which had me and my sister glued to the screen and on the edge of our seats), her grief doesn't ring true due to a lack of genuine emotion and she came over as too smug, aloof and self-congratulatory at the end. Despite Watson's miscasting, she fares a little better than Ellar Coltrane, found him uneven in 'Boyhood', here he was terrible in one of the most painfully amateurish performances seen recently as a barely-in-it plot device character. John Boyega has nothing to do other than look moody, a waste of a hugely promising rising star.
While there are a few elements of the production values that work, 'The Circle' looks a little too gloomily lit and there is a lack of fluidity in the editing. Don't remember a single note from Danny Elfman's score, which is one of his most generic and eminently forgettable efforts. James Ponsoldt's direction is very slack, which badly affects the never-coming-to-life pacing.
Found a lot of the script stilted, over-complicated (with an overload of technical jargon that confuses and alienates the viewer) and self-indulgent. It also tries to touch on the relevant and important theme of the dangers of media, the internet and technology but instead approaches it in a way that talks down to the viewer and uncomfortably condescends. Tonally, it's muddled, trying to be a psychological thriller, drama with a George Orwell and '1984' influence, philosophy and workplace coming-of-age drama, and never really succeeds at any of them.
It's just too half-hearted and half-baked in delivery with as aforementioned convoluted and shoe-horned technical jargon. What it tries to say about the theme it addresses is nothing new or enlightening and has the subtlety of a sledgehammer. The philosophical elements are far too simplistic and the workplace/coming-of-age scenes are too few and almost irrelevant.
Unfortunately, it fares just as badly in the story. It's often incredibly dull and repetitive with a fairly incoherent beginning before Hanks shows up. The whole totalitarian and evil intentions of the tech company are blatantly obvious too early and beaten around the viewer's heads, their actions (especially the finding people in 20 minutes or less) are highly improbable too. The death scene was poorly edited, cheap, hollow and manipulative and the climax seemed to contradict the film's dangerous and unsubtle messaging. Only the scenes with the parents have any emotion or ring true, wish there was more of them.
Overall, a missed opportunity that could have been good if executed right. 4/10 Bethany Cox.