While I enjoy films that make me think and allow for discussion or debate, I did feel that “The Circle”, which has a talented cast, came up short and felt the storyline could or should have been better. A film that is average for the most part, not great, not terrible, just a film that is just O.K.
TITLE: The Circle
FILM RELEASE: 2017
DURATION: 110 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 2:40:1 aspect ratio, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Subtitles: Spanish, English SDH
COMPANY:Â Lions Gate
RATED: PG-13 (A Sexual Situation, Brief, Strong Language and Some Thematic Elements including Drug Use)
RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2017
Based on the Novel by Dave Eggers
Directed by James Ponsoldt
Screenplay by James Ponsoldt, Dave Eggers
Produced by Anthony Bregman, Gary Goetzman, James Ponsoldt
Executive Producer: JStefanie Azpiazu, Peter Cron, Evan Hayes, Russell Levine, Federica Sainte-Rose, Ron Schmidt, Steve Shareshian, Marc Shmuger, Sally Wilcox
Music by Danny Elfman
Cinematography by Matthew Libatique
Edited by Lisa Lassek, Franklin Peterson
Casting by Avy Kaufman
Production Design by Gerald Sullivan
Art Direction by Sarah M. Pott, Sebastian Schroder
Set Decoration by Rosemary Brandenburg, Sarah Sprawls
Costume Design by Emma Potter
Starring:
Emma Watson as Mae
Ellar Coltrane as Mercer
Glenne Headly as Bonnie
Bill Paxton as Vinnie
Karen Gillan as Annie
Tom Hanks as Bailey
Beck as Beck
Nate Corddry as Dan
Mamoudou Athie as Jared
John Boyega as Ty
THE CIRCLE is a gripping modern thriller, set in the not-too-distant future, starring Emma Watson (HARRY POTTER franchise), Tom Hanks (SULLY), and John Boyega (STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS).
Writer David Eggers is forever known for his successful book “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”.
Having written numerous non-fiction and fictional books, his 2013 novel “The Circle” received a film adaptation and was released in the U.S. in theaters back in April 2017.
Directed by James Ponsoldt (“The Spectacular now”, “Smashed”) and co-written with Eggers, the film would make over $30 million in the box office.
Starring Emma Watson (“Harry Potter” films, “Beauty and the Beast”), Tom Hanks (“Forrest Gump”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “The Da Vinci Code”), Karen Gillan (“Guardians of the Galaxy”, “Doctor Who”, “Oculus”), Ellar Coltrane (“Fast Food Nation”, “Boyhood”, “Barry”), Glenn Headly (“Don Jon”, “Mr. Holland’s Opus”, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”), Bill Paxton (“Titanic”, “Aliens”, “Apollo 13”) and John Boyega (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, “Attack the Block”, “Imperial Dreams”).
The film revolves around Mae Holland (portrayed by Emma Watson), a young woman who tries to work survival jobs, rides a car that is in bad shape and having to help her mother Bonnie (portrayed by Glenne Headly) care for her father Vinnie (portrayed by Bill Paxton) who is suffering from multiple sclerosis.
One day, Mae gets a call from her friend Annie Allerton (portrayed by Karen Gillan) who works for the powerful tech and social media company, The Circle. Annie got her an interview in Customer Experience, assisting users of products and services from the Circle. And with each experience, they are rated by customers and she wants to do her best and keep her score high.
During a company meeting, Eamon Bailey (portrayed by Tom Hanks) introduces a new initiative called “SeeChange” in which small cameras can be placed anywhere and provide real-time, high quality video feeds.
Meanwhile, her fellow employees try to get her active on social media and she meets Ty (portrayed by John Boyega) who is not partying with others and is often alone.
While on break, she learns from her mom of how Mercer is plans to start a business of making chandeliers out of deer antlers. Not thinking anything bad of it, she posts the photo of Mercer’s chandelier online.
Meanwhile at another meeting, Tom Stenton (portrayed by Patton Oswalt) introduces a political candidate who plans to make all of her communications transparent and visble to those who wish to see them. And how transparency brings accountability.
When Mae sees Ty, the two talk and he takes her to a restricted area and how an abandoned underground room will be keeping information on everyone. She also learns that Ty is the creator of The Circle’s popular product, True You.
Back at work, Mercer comes to visit Mae and tells her that by posting her photo of the chandelier, now he is receiving death threats and being accused of killing animals, which he doesn’t do. When the two are talking, people surround them, streaming video as people accuse Mercer of being an animal killer publicly. Mae pleads that she didn’t mean to hurt him but Mercer leaves angry at what has happened to his life.
Upset about what has transpird, Mae goes kayaking late at night but because it is so late, she nearly drown but is rescued by the coastguard. Fortunately, the Seechange cameras caught her breaking int the kayak premises and taking the kayak and the Coast guard were able to rescue her.
As she is to meet with The Circle co-founders Eamon Bailey and Tom Stenton, the two want to give her a chance by making her the first Circler to go completely transparent. And from that point on, Mae will broadcast her life 24/7 (with the exception for bathroom related situations). But how will Mae’s life be affected, especially those close to her?
VIDEO:
“The Circle” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1 aspect ratio). With a lot of scenes shot outdoors, the picture quality for the film is vibrant and looks great in HD. Closeups show good detail but for the most part, the film looks very good with no signs of artifacts or banding issues.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Circle” is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and features crystal clear dialogue and music from Danny Elfman. Surround channels are utilized for ambiance, especially during scenes with audiences.
Subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Circle” comes with the following special features:
- No More Secrets: Completing the Circle – (30:55) A film about the making of “The Circle” and interviews with the cast and crew.
- The future Won’t Wait: Design & Technology – (10:55) A featurette about the visual effects and design of the social media world for the film.
- A True Original: Remembering Bill Paxton – (13:50) A featurette honoring the late Bill Paxton as “The Circle” was his last film and Tom Hanks talks about working with Bill.
EXTRAS:
“The Circle” comes with the Blu-ray, DVD and an UltraViolet HD code.
As I finished watching “The Circle”…I was left of feeling that it was a film that left me unfulfilled. Granted, it was an OK film and and an interesting take about social media companies pushing the boundaries of privacy and ethics.
A film of where The Circle is the dominant social media company and how everyone who works for the company is engrossed in the new technologies employed by the company. And with the development of a miniature camera, people can now watch and communicate all over the world/globe through these cameras that watch society in high quality video.
People watch live streaming of the life of Mae (portrayed by Emma Watson), who learns about the importance of privacy and open transparency but when her posts lead to her good friend in trouble, nevertheless one can watch and see how certain things can mirror real life.
One scene that does have relevance is when Mae (Emma Watson) puts a photo up of her friend who created a chandelier of antlers. But what she didn’t expect is that by doing so, opened him up for death threats, as many people felt he slaughtered animals to make the chandelier (which he didn’t) and the repercussions of such actions.
It made me think about how numerous people that I know who used to post photos on Facebook and other social media of them hunting deer or other animals (legally) but with the backlash that people have received from hunting and the threats that others have experienced, they have stopped.
Recently, I noticed even pet owners who post photos of their dogs in outfits are getting vilified on social media and also any video posts from a zoo will incur angry comments for those who feel zoos are inhumane.
That’s how social media is today, people who disagree are going to be highly vocal, while you have others who could care less and are unfazed.
But for the film “The Circle”, the film goes into the topic of what if things change and how open transparency can actually hurt the people you care about.
No doubt the film would be a fascinating film to encourage discussion but I felt certain areas of the film to be farfetched, while other scenes being quite plausible.
Especially when Mae turns the cameras on and not knowing her parents are having sex. I think for those of us who remember such things during the Justin.tv years have already seen these things years ago but to push for open transparency is an interesting topic that will encourage discussion in the near future as privacy is always a major topic being discussed.
While I felt the story was OK, I felt that the film was bolstered by its talented cast which include Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, Karen Gillan, John Boyega, Patton Oswalt and you also have the final film appearance of actor Bill Paxton, who passed away in February 2017, a few months before the film’s theatrical premiere.
As for the Blu-ray release, picture quality is fantastic and for the lossless soundtrack, it features crystal clear dialogue and music but also good use of the surround channels for the large crowd-related scenes. The film comes with nearly an hour’s worth of special features including a tribute to actor Bill Paxton.
Overall, while I enjoy films that make me think and allow for discussion or debate, I did feel that “The Circle”, which has a talented cast, came up short and felt the storyline could or should have been better. A film that is average for the most part, not great, not terrible, just a film that is just O.K.
