My first review of this reminds me too much of my comment re Black Christmas and this and Clausen's Pier do have common elements in that they are less appealing than some. They are a long way from the magnetism of Pete And Pete or Can't Be Heaven (2000) or Buffy or Beautiful Ohio (2006) or EuroTrip or Ice Princess or 17 Again.
The Circuit often appears to be at the level of Trachtenberg's best, then it goes weak. Some viewings I can find the whole thing watchable, if patchy. Other viewings I feel a need to look at a different feature instead.
The real positive aspect is that for a fan this is now available on DVD, not as an Ultimate Trach but as part of the whole thing. There is still Trach stuff that is not available, but 2010 saw things open up a bit more. Some actors, one can find it difficult to find this sort of second tier stuff.
The Pete, Pete cannon allows Rolling Thunder to be many different and opposite things. The Circuit has that sort of mixture, but if I return to it occasionally there might not always be a need for disappointment.