Why the Movie 'The Circle' Completely Sucked
- Allie Mobley
- May 1, 2017
- 2 min read
For my ‘New Media Technologies’ course in the UNC School of Media and Journalism, we had to read The Circle by Dave Eggers. It is about a young woman named Mae who gets hired at a massive company called ‘The Circle’- think Google or Facebook. The Circle basically tries to take over the world with social media and technology, eliminating privacy for the “greater good.” It is a scary tale of where our society may be headed.
The book was turned into a movie, starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, out in theaters now. I went to see the film Sunday, and was INCREDIBLY disappointed. I am apologizing now for my harsh rant…. But here are the five reasons why the film butchers the wonderfully crafted book:
Viewers who had not read the book would be completely confused as to what was going on. I had read the book and I was still confused. They did a poor job of explaining the plot and giving context. For example, the function of Kalden in the movie made zero sense.
The acting and dialogue was cringe-worthy. Emma Watson is one of my favorite actresses, yet in this film, she stared off in the distance with a contemplative look WAY more than she actually spoke. The actor from “Boyhood” who played Mercer was equally horrible. Mercer is described in the book to be strong, warm-spirited, and righteous. In the movie, he walked around slumped over like an emo kid in high school. The script needed work- the dialogue in scenes made me audibly laugh, especially Mae’s first encounter with Kalden. They were attempting to joke about the party that the Circle put on, and it was the most awkward scene I have ever seen. Incredibly disappointing from high-caliber actors/actresses. Tom Hanks played his role solidly, but I am embarrassed for him to be a part of the film.
Where was the love story? They left out one of the main characters of the book, a man named Francis who became a love interest for Mae. Further, in the book, Mae and Kalden had a sexual relationship that was left out in the movie. The romance in the book added another layer to the entire story, and thus leaving it out made the film substantially more boring.
The ending was weak. Mae was on stage, asking the two founders of the Circle to go completely transparent, and then the movie ended. WHAT! There was no inclusion of the severity of what was going on, the fact that Mae and Kalden brought down the whole company, etc. If I hadn’t read the book, I would be completely confused.
Lastly, the campus of the Circle was described in the book to be completely immaculate, excessive, and jaw-dropping. The movie could have created more technology-centered devices on the campus, more staggering scenery, etc. They briefly showed the campus and it looked like a university. Actual Facebook/Google campuses look better than what the film created.
I feel bad for Dave Eggers. He will probably receive negative backlash for this movie when in reality, his book was a great work that I have recommended to multiple people, and the movie was a complete failure of a rendition.
Rant over. Mic drop.
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