Will “The Circle” be unbroken?

Based on the ambiguous conclusion of the movie, “The Circle” is broken.

The up-to-the-minute examination of the cyberworld we live in stars Emma Watson. Shedding her Hermione Granger robes of the “Harry Potter” movies, Watson plays Mae, a smart twentysomething who becomes a valued employee of The Circle. It’s a Google-Facebook-Twitter Silicon Valley, Calif., social media company that seeks to make the world a better place through “transparency.”

Transparency is another word for living your life on the web 24-7, broadcasting your every move, well, maybe not all your every move, to the world. Think facebook live, Instagram and SnapChat.

As Mae, Emma Watson becomes the darling of the internet. She becomes famous, not only as in Andy Warhol’s prediction (“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”), but apparently from here to eternity.

This helps Mae in her ascendancy at The Circle, where she becomes the poster woman for The Circle CEO Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks) and his second-in-command Stenton (Patton Oswalt).

This also helps Mae’s relationship with her parents, her mother, Bonnie (Glenne Headly), and her father, who has Multiple Sclerosis (Bill Paxton, in his apparent last big-screen role), and somehow is the beneficiary of the lucrative medical plan she has as an employee of The Circle.

However, Mae’s world-wide fame causes tension between her and her boyfriend, Mercer (Ellar Coltrane), and a coworker who took her under her wing, Annie (Karen Gillan). Tragedy ensues.

“The Circle” takes the rubric, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” to its dead-end. We see the pratfalls and pitfalls of over-sharing, TMI (Too Much Information) and the constant distractions of a mobile information society in our daily lives, eyes, hands, and pockets. “The Circle” raises a lot of important questions, but does so in a pedantic and professorial way rather than in a sheer-entertaining way.

Part of the problem is the screenplay by James Ponsoldt, director of “The Circle,” and Dave Egger, who wrote the dystopian novel, “The Circle.” The character of Mae, despite Emma Watson’s best efforts, is just not fully developed. Neither is the role of her boyfriend, Mercer, even though Ellar Coltrane does a commendable job. Neither is their relationship given adequate development.

There are also problems with the character of Mae’s friend, Annie. Their friendship also lacks depth. The change in Annie’s disposition is never really explored.

Furthermore, the skills of Tom Hanks are largely relegated to Steve Jobs-like auditorium presentations, essentially a lecture. Hanks employs his best nasally-authoritative TV game-show host voice, but his role is really that of a supporting character and his motivations are also not fully understood. Patton Oswalt’s role is essentially that of a walk-on.

The film’s direction doesn’t help. Ponsoldt (“The End of the Tour,” 2015; “The Spectacular Now,” 2013) treats many scenes in a perfunctory manner. The film seems preoccupied with the admittedly fun screen comments, ala facebook live, of those following Mae in real-time video. The soundtrack by the usually reliable Danny Elfman takes the film in the unfortunate direction of the TV game show, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”

“The Circle” is a fascinating but flawed look at the social media world that we live in, which is possibly more anti-social than social. “The Circle” comes full circle and offers no clear understanding of what we’ve gotten ourselves into. That, of course, is up to us.

“The Circle,”MPAA rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13.) for a sexual situation, brief strong language and some thematic elements including drug use; Genre: Drama, Science-Fiction, Thriller; Run time: 1 hr., 50 min.; Distributed by STX Entertainment.

Credit Readers Anonymous:“The Circle” was filmed entirely in California, including the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena; Manhattan Beach, and Century City. The end credits state “For Bill,” a dedication to the late Bill Paxton.

Box Office,May 5: “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” showed who rules at the box office, kicking off the summer blockbuster movie season well ahead of the traditional Memorial Day weekend start (even though the first day of summer is June 21) with a $145 million opening, ending the three-week No. 1 run of “The Fate of the Furious,” dropping to No. 2 with $8.5 million, $207.1 million, four weeks. “The Boss Baby” bounced up two places to No. 3 with $6.1 million, $156.7 million, six weeks.

4. “How to Be a Latin Lover” dropped two places, with $5.2 million, $20.6 million, two weeks.

5. “Beauty and the Beast” moved up one place, with $4.9 million, $487.5 million, eight weeks.

6. “The Circle” spun down two places, with $4 million, $15.7 million, two weeks.

7. “Bahubali 2: The Conclusion” dropped four places, with $3.2 million, $16.1 million, two weeks.

8. “Gifted” moved up one place, with $2 million, $19.2 million, five weeks.

9. “Going In Style” dropped two places, with $1.9 million, $40.6 million, five weeks.

10. “Smurfs: The Lost Village” dropped two places, with $1.8 million, $40.5 million, five weeks.

Unreel,May 12:

“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword,”PG-13: Guy Ritchie directs Charlie Hunnam, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Jude Law and Djimon Hounsou in the Adventure-Fantasy retelling about Arthur and that sword in the stone.

“Snatched,”R: Jonathan Levine directs Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Kim Caramele and Raven Goodwin in the Comedy about a woman and her mother who vacation together at an exotic location.

Two Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes