The Circle (2017)

[Ezen Baklattan]

Review, Discuss, Debate, Celebrate.

[Ezen Baklattan]

A fairly interesting mess.

 

The ideas it has on display are fairly interesting, and the world it creates is clear in what it wants to emulate (to the point of obliterating any subtlety), but the movie itself doesn't exactly know what it wants to say at times. It's not really a matter of being ambivalent but in the issue of the fairly convoluted plot with fairly one dimensional characters outside Emma Watson's Mae (who's ultimately the glue that holds the movie together) and having plot points/character that disappear and reappear at random times. It's kind of a movie where things just happen. 

 

At the same time, it's a fun watch with fairly solid visual design and AMAZING music that's humorous at times and offers the opportunity for fun discussion of the themes, even if the movie never goes far or deep enough beyond being kind of a general "thematic soup."

[baumer]

I agree with spaghetti. It's not a bad movie but it's not a good one but it's definitely an interesting message. The ideas behind it are interesting and of course it's definitely presents a dystopian future with a giant smile on its face.

 

The ending is a giant turd and probably drop the film down a notch or two for me.

 

6/10

[WrathOfHan]

Holy FUCK this was bad. Absolutely no character arcs, bad editing and pacing, and dialogue and scenarios that are so bad to the point of comedy make this one of the worst films I have seen in YEARS. 1/10 | F

[Blankments]

The Circle is an utterly moronic pseudo-intellectual affair. The script is full of hackneyed arguments about tech everyone has already heard, and it doesn't go any deeper than a typical Facebook comment argument might go. Ponsoldt directs it all with a very generic "flair" to the point where one would wish it was shot closer to a Lifetime movie than the slick dullness that's presented. The cast, which is admittedly great, all falls into three categories: wasted, delivering a poor performance, or shockingly elevating their role into being somewhat watchable. The last of those is only accomplished by two actors, Gillan and Paxton, and it's no coincidence they're the only two that escape this movie with their reputation slightly intact. Well, those two actors and Danny Elfman, who delivers a pretty fun techno score that makes this film much more tolerable than it should be. Overall though, The Circle is a massive failure, being far too obvious and moronic to bring forth any interesting ideas about tech while being full of mediocre acting, writing, and directing. An utter waste of time for everyone involved. D-

[TheMovieman]

Takes itself way too serious but unintentional hilarious. Could've been good, with an interesting message, if handled well, but it wasn't.

 

*½/*****, (D, 3.0/10, 1.25/4)

[DeeCee]

This is so bad. 

 

I’m at my third attempt watching this. 

 

Maybe I’ll finish it on the fourth attempt.