The Invisible Circus sets up an intriguing premise. In 1969 Faith, a young woman from San Francisco, and her boyfriend, nicknamed Wolf, took off for Europe. This was the time period of youth protesting anything and everything and Faith and Wolf were determined to change the world. Unfortunately in Europe things went terribly wrong. Eventually Faith's journey brought her to Portugal where she killed herself. What happened to this idealistic young woman to bring her to this sad end? Was it really even suicide at all? These were questions which Faith's sister Phoebe felt were never satisfactorily answered. It is now 1976 and Phoebe, now 18 years old, goes to Europe to retrace her sister's steps. And to answer those questions. Unfortunately Phoebe's journey does not prove to be nearly as dramatic, captivating or entertaining as you would hope.It was inevitable that upon arriving in Europe Phoebe would meet up with Wolf. As soon as we see him it's obvious he's hiding something. It couldn't be any more obvious if he had "I'm Hiding Something" tattooed on his forehead. But Phoebe is oblivious to this. There's also the issue that just because he's by now cut his hair and seemingly settled down there was a reason the guy was nicknamed Wolf. He's obviously attracted to Phoebe which is wrong on so many levels and this ends up taking the movie to some uncomfortable places it would be better off not going. On the surface it seems he's trying to be helpful but he's really a sleaze. And again he's obviously not being completely truthful. Why can't Phoebe see that? I suppose because if she did the movie would be over in half an hour. Anyhow, Phoebe's not so excellent European adventure continues with Wolf tagging along and doling out tiny crumbs of information on what happened to Faith when he sees fit.There are really only three roles of significance in the film. Jordana Brewster does pretty well playing Phoebe. Brewster shows an impressive maturity even as she portrays a character who clearly has a lot of growing up to do and is a little lost in the world. Christopher Eccleston plays Wolf, a character clearly meant to be a little mysterious and Eccleston does do enough to keep you guessing at least for a little while. It must be said that the chemistry between Brewster and Eccleston really is not there but maybe that's a good thing because the closer Phoebe and Wolf get the more uncomfortable the movie is to watch. And then there's Cameron Diaz, playing Faith in the flashback sequences which show us where it all went wrong. A serious role for Diaz to play, the type of thing you might not expect her to pull off, but she does OK. The film's problems come not with the performances but with the story. The more we learn about the path Faith took the less believable things get. The more Phoebe and Wolf are drawn together the more we want to look away. As we move towards the ending the sense is that a letdown is inevitable. You know the movie's setting itself up for a big revelation but the sense is the big ending will be a big dud. And so it proves. The ending is very anticlimactic, certainly nothing which will salvage a film which has had its problems throughout. The story is scarcely believable at times and lacks for drama for much of the way. And the film certainly lacked entertainment too. It's a film which ropes you in with an intriguing setup but it's lost you well before the end. A film which had promise but it fizzled away.

THE INVISIBLE CIRCUS is not a bad film, and it is certainly worth a look, however, by and large, it fails to connect. The film is, ‎'Convincing', if you focus on the storyline about the younger sister traveling to Europe to uncover the mystery surrounding the death of her big sister, yet overwhelmingly, 'Unconvincing', if you focus on the dead sister's reasons for her radical agenda. There did not seem to be enough character development to believe that this poised and intelligent young woman would mutate from an adventurous hippie into a member of a radical gang. Free Spirits don't generally mutate into Terrorists without just cause, and, in this case, none were offered.

This film is about a young woman trying to find out what really happened to her elder sister who was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Portugal.I was hoping it to be a touching and engaging movie. I just expected something better especially when Cameron Diaz is in it. Unfortunately, the plot is slow and fails to engage at all. Jordana Brewster's emotions seems shallow and even restricted. I did not really care about any of the characters either, as they all seem irresponsible and dispensable. In such a plot and character driven film, such flaws are fatal. Hence, even the good lighting, cinematography and amazing European scenery cannot save this film from being a waste of time, and money.

I must admit this is one of Cameron Diaz's unheard of films and i was also surprised that she had an important role but she was not the lead. I was very touched by it as i really can identify the pain of the loss of a loved one as i have experienced it from close quarters.Both Camilla Belle and Jordana Brewster were really good in their portrayal of the protagonist Phoebe and i must also hand it to the casting people for finding two actresses who look so alike that i really thought they were sisters(in real life). This is one of those movies Cameron did for the sake of acting and not for star billing.She looked the part of the gorgeous ,rebellious hippie who wants to change the world though sometimes she comes off as a rebel without a cause.Coming from a dysfunctional family where her only source of strength being her big sister Faith, little girl Phoebe is understandably very upset when faith leaves for Europe. As she grows up she goes off in search of her sister and gradually gets disillusioned by the truth about her sister and falls for her sister's boyfriend.Great story and equally great location shooting around European.I will watch it again.