THE CIRCLE is based upon a novel by Dave Eggers who also
co-wrote the screenplay. The movie stars Emma Watson as Mae Holland. Mae is a
twenty-something who supports herself by working at horrible customer service
temp jobs. She loves to spend her time kayaking and it is hinted at that she
also enjoys other adventures in the great outdoors. She drives a run-down used
car that has seen better days and she dreams of working at a regular full time
job where her talents and ambitions can be fully utilized. Her life changes
drastically and apparently for the better when her friend Annie (Karen Gillan)
gets her an interview at the hi-tech company The Circle. Mae is interviewed and
hired and soon becomes swept up in the improvements in her life that occur as a
result at working at The Circle (a company that appears like a combination of
Facebook, Google, and Apple).
Mae works hard and becomes a great Customer Experience
representative. However, Mae is a bit of an enigma to her co-workers at The
Circle. As she jokes around with an attractive stranger she meets at one of The
Circle’s parties, it seems like everyone has drunk the Kool-Aid who works
there. She goes home and visits her
parents on the weekends. Her father (portrayed by the late Bill Paxton) is
suffering with MS and it is increasingly becoming a burden upon her mother and
she feels she needs to be there. She also enjoys partaking in the things that
give her joy, but alone and on her own time. Her co-workers are worried that
during the weekends Mae hasn’t participated or posted anything at all in the
social media of the company and that she spent so much time alone. In the
spirit of getting along, Mae attempts to participate more in the “non-required”
activities The Circle offers.
However, when her life is apparently “saved” because of one
of the new gadgets that The Circle is beta-testing, Mae drinks the Kool-Aid
like everyone else and she doesn’t just drink a glass, she drinks the whole
pitcher. She becomes the new wunderkid and face of the company and agrees to
become the first worker of the company to become “transparent”, broadcasting
every part of her life (except 3 minute bathroom breaks) to the world 24-hrs a
day (think the movie ED-TV, but without the comedy and on steroids), 7 days a
week. This decision affects Mae’s relationships with her parents, friends, and
pseudo-boyfriend. She not only spouts the company’s mantras (“Sharing is
caring;” “All that happens must be known;”
“Secrets are lies;” etc.) but believes in them wholeheartedly and pushes
for more and more control, presence, and surveillance of The Circle in
everyone’s life. Then something traumatic happens and Mae reflects and
questions all that she has allowed to happen.
In terms of pure cinema, THE CIRCLE is not a great movie.
However, it does offer some treats for filmgoers. Bill Paxton plays Mae’s father who is
stricken with MS. The role is basically a bit part. However, Paxton really
brings the character to life and is one of the few characters in the film that
helps to humanize Mae and keep her from being a complete cardboard
cut-out. Tom Hanks stars in the film as
Eamon Bailey, one of the founders of The Circle and its current leader and
spokesperson. Hanks is always a joy to watch on the screen. He’s a genuine nice
guy and often is typecast in the roles of an Everyman and the Hero. In THE
CIRCLE, Hanks gets to use his likeable charm to portray a character who for all
intents and purposes seems and appears to be a likeable and nice guy, but who
is actually a villain. Also enjoyable in the movie is Karen Gillan as Annie
Allerton, Mae’s friend. Gillan steals many of the scenes she is in, reminding
me of why she was such a valuable part of DOCTOR WHO when she was on that
series.
Despite these fine performances, there are two huge reasons
that THE CIRCLE largely fails as a movie. The first is its star, Emma Watson.
Emma Watson is a fine actress. However, in this movie, she really doesn’t feel
believable. She’s fine in the role until
about halfway through when Mae becomes a
convert to the agenda of The Circle. Mae is supposed to swallow the company
propaganda hook, line, and sinker. However, Watson is not at all convincing
that Mae is a true convert. One gets the feeling that instead of a convert, she
is instead a spy and promoting a product she has no real belief in. There
should be a transformation of Mae’s character and while it happens on the
surface, it never occurs any deeper.
The other big negative with THE CIRCLE is that it is written
as a realistic sci-fi thriller. Unfortunately, there are no thrills in this
movie. There is never any sense of danger for the protagonist. Mae breaks into
rooms, has secret meetings with an enemy of The Circle, and opens her life to
the world. However, there is never any indication that she is risking anything.
Even during the scene when Mae almost dies and is “saved” because of The Circle
technology, she isn’t risking anything and doesn’t seem to be in any real
danger. Instead, her rescue feels more
like something that was staged for convenience. For a thriller of any kind,
there actually has to be some thrills and there isn’t any in THE CIRCLE. It’s
far too safe.
Yet, while THE CIRCLE is only an okay movie that fails as a
thriller, it does succeed as a piece of social commentary. There are so many
scenes in THE CIRCLE that are eerie in how accurate they mirror what is
happening in our society. The culture of the society of The Circle is one where
people share everything (“sharing is caring”) and if you believe in privacy and
attempt to have some privacy, you are the outcast. The culture of the workers
of The Circle is one where not only is your entire life under surveillance, but
it is something you do willfully. Just look around and see how much people
share on social media today and you see that we really aren’t that far away
from the type of society that the leaders of The Circle want us to live in. In
that regard, THE CIRCLE is more akin to Ray Bradbury’s short story “The
Pedestrian” than it is to Orwell’s 1984; it’s no longer a piece of science
fiction but a piece of real-time social commentary. In a couple years from now, it might be able
to pass as a documentary.
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