By Paul Hall
Imagine that everything you do is monitored, stored and processed. I know, some think that is true now, but what if it was not only really happening but also a company was bold enough to tell you they were doing it? In the new film The Circle from director James Ponsoldt, we find out what happens when a company that seems to want nothing but good is willingly given too much power.
Mae (Emma Watson) is just getting along in life, working hard in a call center answering questions and trying to solve problems all while helping her parents. If only things could be different for Mae and her family. Then the call comes: It can be different. Her friend Annie (Karen Gillan) has arranged for an interview at the mega-tech company The Circle.
Mae kills in the interview and is whisked off to her new job in customer service. She’s given all the tools to succeed, and once she is a part of The Circle, they attempt to take care of everything. From pottery classes to parties with rock stars — Beck makes an appearance playing a weekend shindig for no apparent reason — the company that seems like a melding of Facebook, Twitter, Google and Amazon strives to make everything it touches perfect.
The organization even decides to bring Mae’s parents on to the health plan, all in an attempt to gain her trust for something bigger. Altruistic as it may seem to Mae at first, is there something more sinister at play? According to company founder Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks), The Circle is an organization that believes “knowing is good but knowing everything is better” — but just how much of our privacy are we willing to give up for ease of use?
I really wanted to like this film. Questions of privacy and transparency are huge when it comes to the info we crave and freely give up to our friends on social media. Do we really want to give up all of our secrets? It’s a deep philosophical discussion that could go on for hours, and therein lies the problem. The film, which clocks in at one hour and 50 minutes, never takes the time to go deeper. Everything is surface level only. But how about some depth allowing a cast of solid actors to show how good they are at their craft and tell us more about the people they are bringing to life?
I have more questions than answers, but I can’t ask them here without spoiling the story. Instead I need to seek out the source material and read the book. What didn’t make it into the film? What can the book tell me to enhance the characters I witnessed onscreen?
So I leave the film version of The Circle quite unsatisfied and already caring less by the minute about what I saw of the glossed-over characters on the screen. I’d much rather have a 90-minute film that digs into backstories and gives me a satisfying experience, instead of introducing me to 10 characters I don’t get to know or care for during our time together.
I realize that, whether I’m writing a column or appearing on radio, television or social media, I’m giving up a bit of my own privacy. But that line needs to be drawn somewhere. I need to be able to be myself when the spotlight is off, and the concepts in The Circle scare the heck out of me. Just who is watching and how much is too much? Is knowing everything a good thing? Now at least you know what I think about The Circle, but is that a good thing? Depends on who you are.
Paul’s Grade: C / C-
The Circle
Rated PG-13
Stars: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega
Director: James Ponsoldt
Brought to you by the publishers of TV Guide, the ultimate TV resource packed with celebrity news and commentary on what’s new and what’s good to watch. Get TV Guide at 88% off the cover price: call 800-866-1400 or visit tvguidemagazine.com. ©TV Guide 2017.
NEW THIS WEEK
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Rated PG-13
Stars: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista
Director: James Gunn
“Awesome Mixtape #2” is the soundtrack for the team’s journey across the cosmos as they search for Peter Quill’s parents. Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax and Rocket join Baby Groot and more of the characters from Marvel’s cinematic universe to save us all again.