Review of The Circle (2017) by Benskylerhill — 24 Apr 2018

Goodness gracious, where do I begin? The Circle is the cinematic equivalent of toast with nothing on it. You've eaten toast a million times before in your life; there's nothing wrong with toast, you wouldn't mind eating another piece of toast, but when it's given to you with nothing on it, there is absolutely nothing to be enjoyed from the consumption of said toast.

The Circle is a film that is supposed to be some kind of warning about the dangers of advancing technology and the implications it can have regarding invasion of privacy. That concept has been done many, many times before and there's nothing wrong with doing it again. But holy cow is this movie just bland in every possible way.

This movie wastes its talented cast with a screenplay that not only offers no inspired dialogue, but doesn't even set up any compelling story or conflict for us as viewers to care about. In the film, there really isn't anyone who fights against the fact that privacy is being eviscerated, and it's not really portrayed as being a good or a bad thing. Whatever message The Circle was going for gets muddled in the completely dull and tedious conversations between the characters that really don't advance the plot. In fact, there really is no plot because nobody in the movie is trying to accomplish anything.

Visually, the movie is appealing enough, but the choppy editing mutes whatever striking visuals that were present. This movie had so much potential, but it just didn't build a story and I finished the film wondering why I had just spent 110 minutes watching people use social media and talk about it in as wishy-washy of a way that could ever be conjured up by screenwriters. Nothing happens in this movie; you're just as well off going to the park and watching other people go about their ordinary days.

Story: 2.

Acting: 4.

Script: 2.5.

Visuals/Sound: 4.5.

Entertainment Value: 3.

MY RATING: 3.