‘Closed circle’ and the effectiveness of Steven Soderbergh

The first thing that stands out about Closed Circle (HBO Max) is that it has an open ending, an apparent contradiction that its managers, Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon, allow themselves, without reaching the sophistication of squaring the circle.

We already knew about Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy, which in the US audiovisual industry translated into excellent profitability and, therefore, into remarkable decision-making capacity of whoever generated it. In other words: if you produce profits you have an open bar. And that is the case of the director’s new collaboration with HBO.

Closed Circle is a convoluted and stupendous story of a mistaken kidnapping in six chapters that also has its point of traditional melodrama without forgetting the exoticism of showing us the Guyanese-New York mafia and its peculiar magical rituals in which the circle is the key . And since those who tell it and direct it had already succeeded previously, well, no problem. What do you want a cast hardened in a thousand television battles? Well, there you have the stupendous Claire Danes (four Golden Globes and three Emmys, unforgettable protagonist of Homeland), supported by Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood, Justified), Dennis Quaid, in a role that could be compared to a kind of Karlos Arguiñano from the Big Apple, or CCH Pounder, which, by the way, is Guyanese.

That an exaggerated touch of sentimentality suits the story? Well, the teenager kidnapped by mistake turns out to be the unknown stepbrother of the one who was the real target. No problem. Of course, the kidnapping was not only a question of money, there was also a desire for revenge. At the origin of the plan there was an ambitious urban project in the much-mentioned Guyana, with its consequent and cruel evictions.

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