The Circle (2017)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I didn't finish watching. One of those movies you telling yourself things would pick up soon and surprise you, but it kept failing. Not worth it. 2 out of 10 for the effort of shouting the importance of privacy by using a dummy actress annoy the hell out of me. Don't be yourself Emma, I am saying please here.

I get the premise. How much can social technology influence our society and how good intentions go bad. The plot is so far fetched that audience has to ignore the gross ignorance of the characters despite their tremendous technical competence which just doesn't gel. Big names in this film can't save it..

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday MorningBored with her desk-bound office job, Mae (Emma Watson) gets her friend to pull a few strings, and lands a job at prestigious tech firm The Circle. She is soon welcomed as one of the family, and finds her colleagues eager to help her use all the technology on hand to improve her life for the better. She also comes to the attention of Bailey (Tom Hanks), the CEO of the organization, who sees potential in her. But another co-worker, Ty (John Boyega) opens her eyes to just how invasive The Circle is set to become. As Mae becomes more ruthless and rises up the ranks, it sets her on a collision course of events, in which her morality and ethics will be tested to the limit.Given recent scandalous revelations, concerning Facebook (which 'The Circle' is none too subtly meant to represent!) and its mishandling of private information of its users, involving the Cambridge Analytica firm, The Circle has hit on an inspired concept for a film, and one which is certainly timely and relevant. Indeed, it looks like one or two of my 'friends' have permanently logged out now, probably because of it, and so we're having these slightly grovelling adverts being run at the moment, trying to reassure everybody that they're going to make their settings easier to unblock, and there's nothing to worry about anymore. Unfortunately, despite the great concept, this film sadly fails to really do it any justice. Hanks was quite a big name for Netflix to pull, even if he may be entering the Autumn of his career now, and his star is slightly waning. But with this in mind, it's even more amazing how little screen time he seems to occupy, at least in the first half. But even so, his character just ends up coming off as really corny, without any solid conviction. As a more fresh faced star, Watson fits the modern tech world scene a bit more smoothly, but the crazed cult-like world she enters just comes off as silly rather than creepy. But it sets the tone for the film in general, which despite its interesting idea, is for the most part just totally unengaging and strangely dull, with characters spouting ridiculous, wordy dialogue that doesn't feel real at all. In spite of everything, weirdly you do feel compelled to find out how it will end, which at least means it never feels tired or predictable. But then it does roll by, and its the most corn-fed, saccharine laden, nonsensical drivel you can imagine, an ill-fitting pay off to a film of enormously wasted potential. **

On this boring movie. There are several episodes of Black Mirror that portray this topic with more suspense and creepiness with a much lower budget, and fewer if any stars. Why Mr. Hanks? Why?