Review of The Circle (2017) by Reginald050877 — 09 May 2017

I like Tom Hanks. Emma Watson is Ok. I thought Egger's THE CIRCLE was an interesting if dated book. A lot of what was written in 2013 has become closer to reality than theory. With that being said, I think the filmmakers made a Ok movie...just OK.

First, the movie is not on the same tone level as the book. Frankly, the book was more R rated due to some uneasy anecdotes in Mae's life and due to the language tone of the book. That's part of the story, and the PG13 rating was not enough.

Second, they fundamentally changed the story which changed "the story" and aim of everything. Ty/Kalden was really not present in the story. His mystique was gone. Mercer? They destroyed his character by turning him from someone Mae did not like to someone she actually liked to some level of attraction. If you see the final act in the book compared to the movie, you will see a difference in how Mae reacts to the events which is a key part of the theme of the story. Not sure what they did with Francis. He as EXTREMELY important to the development of Mae's character.

Lastly, I think it would have been better if they had slowed things down a bit and made the movie about 30 minutes longer. They would have allowed more time to develop Annie more. She represents a key theme of the book too: Positive Workaholic vs Destructive Workaholic.

As I say all the time about book-to-movie adaptations, read the book first please because it makes the movie easier to accept despite concessions almost always made in the transference. Just an OK movie...but I like Tom Hanks...and Emma is Ok.