The Circle (2017) Emma Watson, Tom Hanks... drama, sci-fi, thriller
When I saw the blurb on this film I didn't hesitate to select it for viewing.
'Mae gets a job at a powerful tech company called The Circle, only to uncover an agenda that will affect the lives of all humanity.'
Being more than a tad paranoid about how technology is being used more and more to invade our lives rather than enhance it I got quite excited at the prospect of watching a movie about a powerful tech company with an agenda.
As I popped the corn prior to watching the film I thought back to only that morning, when I had received an invitation from a young friend of mine who wanted to add me to her app so that she could find out where I was at all times (or something). You see, this is where I claim that my paranoia is not unfounded. Cute apps and gadgets seem to make people lose all sense of... well, all sense really. Unless I am your car keys or your 19 yr old senile cat you do not need to know where I am. If you can find out then sure as eggs are eggs others can too...... but back to the film.
The Circle, has a reasonable storyline, not all the acting is too bad and... ok ok, I'm struggling here. Truth is, I found it disappointing, to say the least. It used some good old tried and tested ingredients - unfulfilled potential, overworked friend, inventor now has regrets, serious illness, betrayal of friendship.... but it simply used too many of them and the time restraints of a movie mean that so many characters/ issues made you either ask 'why were they there' or 'what happened? why? when?'
All the people working at The Circle are obviously exceptionally intelligent and extremely happy ALL THE TIME, joining in, partying, sharing..... So, we'll stop right there, shall we? Unless I missed the bit that explained they had been adding happy juice to the water supply, then I'd say this was the point where the film lost all credibility. Without an explanation, you simply cannot expect us to buy this level of happy-sharing from the techy people. Let's get at least a little bit realistic here: highly intelligent techy people? Yeah, you'll find them in their own room, gaming and generally being grumpy, NOT, sharing a kayak on their day off. Sorry. (If you are the exceptional intelligent techy girl/guy who actually does smile and party all the time, please accept my apologies) It may sound like I'm being flippant here, but honestly, it just made me laugh and point at the screen and subsequently lose interest in anything the film had to say.
Unrealistic bit #27; all the comments from people on social media were nice, positive and spelt correctly. I don't know what you would have to add to the water supply to make that happen.
You are left with a 'told you so' attitude after the film, mainly due to the fact they show people staring at their phone a lot (by a lot I mean at every opportunity - yeah yeah we get the message, Mr Movie Maker.) It touches on important issues: transparency, morals, family, friendship and does ask a good question, 'should everyone be forced to vote?' (perhaps a subject for a future blog post)
I'll end on a good note: Tom Hanks says something funny at the end.
Storm