Kim's Thoughts

 I went to the movies yesterday….what better to do on a rainy day, huh? There were a couple movies on the list at my favorite theater – Tinseltown in Gates – that I have been wanting to see, but, one that I hadn’t heard anything about yet piqued my interest….mainly because it was a Tom Hanks movie – I LOVE TOM HANKS and with maybe one or two exceptions, I LOVE every movie he’s ever been in! So, I watched the trailer and thought, “hhhmmm, this could be interesting!” So, that’s the one I saw!

The Circle is about a young girl, Mae Holland – played by Emma Watson, who is working at a dead end job in customer service at I believe the local water company. She lives with her parents – Bonnie and Vinnie, played by Glenne Headley and Bill Paxton – and pretty much feels like she isn’t going anywhere. Until her friend, Annie – played by Karen Gillan – gets her an interview where she works – The Circle – the most powerful technology and social media company in the world! She gets the job – starting at the ground level in customer service. At first, her family is very excited for her, but she doesn’t feel like she fits in. But, soon, she gets more and more assimilated into the culture, moves onto campus, and catches the eye of the company founder, charismatic and charming Eamon Bailey – played by none other than Tom Hanks (perfect choice) and his side-kick, company COO, Tom Stenton – played by Patton Oswalt. Despite warnings by one of the company’s developers, Ty Kalden – played by John Boyega and her long time friend, Mercer – played by Ellar Coltrane (and later, her parents), she gets deeply involved in the a project focused on the next generation of social media – an all seeing, all knowing way to connect the world – alienating everyone she loves! (Don’t worry – no real spoilers here……the trailer and written synopsis all show basically the same info – these are just my words…..and, you pretty much know all this in the first 1/4 or so on the movie…..to talk in any detail about the rest would be just plain cruel!)

The acting was amazing……every character seemed incredibly real and sucked me into their stories. I have not been an Emma Watson fan, but she was excellent in this part – she displayed the perfect mix of vulnerability and knowledge that made her character the ultimate “Circler” – what the employees of the company are called. As a “Guppy” – what new employees are called to indicate small fish – she was eager to learn and fit in and excited about being a part of something huge! Tom Hanks was…..well, Tom Hanks! Like I said in the previous paragraph, he was the perfect choice to be cast as Bailey – he brilliantly brought Bailey’s magnetic and charming personality to life – who wouldn’t want to be a part of whatever he was selling? All the other characters were strong and held up their parts of the story extremely well. I didn’t quite understand the progression of Annie…..I wish they had gone into what was going on with her a little more, but it was a valuable view point for the story.

When I left the theater, all I could think was how people who are already paranoid about the internet and think too much about Big Brother watching them really should NOT go see this movie…..it would push them over the edge, for sure! It definitely shows a dangerous and scary path into the total loss of privacy – something we really need to hold dear and protect! If the story The Circle tells ever comes true, then the most appropriate quote from the movie was spoken by Tom Hanks’ character close to the end of the movie: “Oh, boy, we’re fu**ed!!!” I found the movie very interesting – it isn’t my usual type of movie, but I really enjoyed it – it had me on the edge of my seat! I rate it a solid A and highly recommend it!

Here are the two official trailers…….check them out and see if it might be something that you’d like to see – I doubt you’ll be disappointed if you do!

https://youtu.be/ZkzpcfY9JAo