Customer Reviews

The Circle

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading both the initial reviews that rate this film as brilliant and the later reviews suggesting the film was over-rated and a disappointment, I found myself unable to grasp the worth of "The Circle." I have watched Angela Bettis in both "May" and "Sick Girl" and was captivated by her performances in both brilliant and entertaining movies. Additionally, I am eagerly anticipating her directing debut in the upcoming movie "Roman" where she and Lucky McKee exchange roles (Angela directs, Lucky stars).

This movie? Horrible! The review immediately before mine best summarizes this movie: shot on video, looks and feels like a cheap soap opera/film student project, has a transparent plot, and is generally uninspired and amateurish. I cannot imagine what Angela Bettis was thinking to get involved in this project. The entire "shot in one take" gimmick is just that: A gimmick conceived to hide the worthlessness of viewing this stinker. I noted that the gentleman from "The Sopranos" was in this movie as well, and, being a devoted fan of that series, was looking forward to his role also. Imagine my disappointment when that entire segment of the movie was actually worse than what was already adding up to be a huge waste of my time.

This is not the worst movie I have seen but it is down there near the bottom of the list. Thank God I rented rather than purchased!

Angela Bettis (MAY, MASTERS OF HORROR: SICK GIRL, TOOLBOX MURDERS) is a woman on a mission to keep her husband from being assassinated. We go along w/ her as she pleads w/ the hit-man, trying to convince him to relent. Unfortunately, this is only the first step in THE CIRCLE. I got over the "shot-on-video" look of the movie, and did like about half of it. The problem lies in the "one-uninterrupted-shot" approach. While this would have made for a fantastic short film, it makes things tend to drag in a 100 min. feature. I was impressed by the off-camera set changes and other devices used in order to make scene connections. Ms. Bettis herself is quite good, and there are some interesting characters in the strip club. The twist ending isn't bad, but it's a bit of a slog getting there! Worth seeing once...

After all the hype I expected a very good film starring the fantastic Angela Bettis. I am still looking. Bettis' performance while very good is wasted in this cheesy film student style movie. Shooting in digital gives the director lattitude but also allows for sloppy filming. The hype of being shot in one take is clearly wrong as there are at least two points where the film is cut. The story line is not new and the 'twist' ending is very predictable from the middle of the story. The filming looks like a bad soap opera and the writing isn't much better. Following characters walking down halls and sidewalks for long periods of time is not interesting and it was clear that the actors were struggling with it. While the plot device is not new it is always nice to see Angela Bettis doing anything. Her talents are so wasted here and I don't know why she signed on to this poor film experiment. The only circle I will complete is going back for my money.

this is an ''ok'' rental . I would be disapointed paying $15 's for it .Definetly over rated on here.

I don't know how he did it, but he pulled it off. One continuous shot. No editing. Terrific performances from all the actors. I'm an independent filmmaker and can't even dream of doing anything close to this. I've never met Yuri Zeltser, but if anyone of you have or are planning to, please shake his hand and buy him a drink from Alexander Kustanovich, Brooklyn, NY.

This movie is amazing -- creepy, mind-twisting, with a beautiful performance by Angela Bettis. And it's all done in one uninterrupted shot -- unbelievable! I saw "The Circle" at a festival screening, and can't wait to own it on DVD.