The Company poster & wallpaper

Barbara E. Robertson, James Franco, Malcolm McDowell

A tale centering on the Chicago ballet company--the difficult daily work, the intense pressures of performance, the richly textured behaviors of the dancers--whose professional and personal lives grow...( read more  read more... ) impossibly close.

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44% liked it

1,458 ratings

Critics

69% liked it

121 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Robert Altman

Release Date: December 25, 2003

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DVD Release Date: June 1, 2004

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Flixster Reviews (350)

  • mistershinobi
    February 17, 2008
    mistershinobi
    Visually stunning!
    Campbell's performance is simply beautiful.
  • jam233
    October 31, 2009
    jam233
    Some very slow moving stretches make this film a bit of a disappointment. It does have some imaginative dance choreography and the acting is good, but it is a bit predictable. Still, it does manage to be mostly entertaining.
  • arthurnhk
    October 14, 2009
    arthurnhk
    hardwork down the stage
  • Budgeburgess
    April 14, 2009
    Budgeburgess
    This film is a visual delight. It enraptures your senses ... even if you find yourself waiting for the story to begin. It is neither a documentary about the life of Chicago's Joffrey Ballet, nor is it conventional fiction. There is little that could be described as a plot. The fa...( read more)scination is in the performance and sense of intimacy Altman creates.

    Director Robert Altman has a naturalistic style. Working without a plot is not unusual - "Gosforth Park", for instance, has a very fragile structure. He tends, instead, to observe the characters interact, to focus on what makes the characters tick: his 1970 hit, "M*A*S*H", is perhaps the most widely seen example - there are sub-plots ... but no real plot other than survival.

    Altman's concern is with interaction. The characters, here, are the dancers in the ballet company. They are artists, they work longer and harder than any other artist, yet they are treated like high school kids - they cram into a locker room to get changed, work hours every day, risk career threatening injury, and earn barely enough to keep a roof over their heads.

    Altman portrays the pain - the blisters, bruises, muscle tears, the corns, plasters, bandages, the endless pressure. He makes it clear that the dancers can be expendable - they are rarely consulted about the art they perform, but are often patronised or bullied.

    Altman has a critical perspective. The dancers provide a spectacle for an elitist audience - who may have to suffer the inconvenience of rain during an open-air production, but who clearly don't otherwise suffer much for their art. For them, the ballet is a social occasion, one in which they are presented with the seemingly effortless. Even the onstage injury of a dancer is concealed - a substitute takes her place ... and takes the bows at the end.

    Altman has an improvisational style in his filming. He's said he wants the audience to pay attention, to work at understanding his movies. If you watch a ballet ... highly stylised, often utterly surreal ... how do you understand what is taking place? Altman makes you work to understand what is going on in this film, to value the performance without the artifice of a plot. This is life as dancers know it!

    Neve Campbell's skills are very definitely on show here. She was the driving force behind the film: she co-wrote and co-produced it, and pestered Altman until he agreed to direct. Campbell spent six years at the National Ballet School of Canada; she was a dancer long before she became an actor. She was a cute teenager in "Party Of Five", appeared unflappable in teenage horror movies, but here, she takes on a gruelling, adult role ... and is convincing not only as a dancer, but in her ability to forego celebrity status and blend into the background as a member of the company.

    Campbell is just one of the dancers. You are never allowed to see her as a star. The movie is more slice-of-life than a typical Hollywood vehicle for a celebrity cast. Most of the roles are played by actual company members - Campbell and the film crew are the outsiders.

    There are minor subplots, but the real concentration is on the hard work, dedication, and humour of the dancers. They smile, their faces stripped of any emotion other than ones called for by the choreographer. Malcolm McDowell gives a potent performance as the sometimes autocratic, sometimes avuncular director, perhaps echoing Altman's reputation as something of a control freak.

    The film takes on a documentary quality - the camera leads you in amongst the dancers. You can hear the sound of their feet hitting the stage - crisp little sounds, like pistol shots. You can certainly sense the eroticism of the performance - I've often wondered if classical ballet started as a form of pornography.

    The dancers, themselves, deconstruct their art. They parody the role of the director and choreographer, mocking the pretensions of the purists, and revelling in their own skills and vitality. They may be on pain killers and other supplements, may be too busy to have much of a life beyond the company, but they are performers, and they live to dance.

    Not a film everyone will enjoy. I'm not a great ballet fan, but this movie captured my imagination and my interest. It is not an easy film to watch. You have to concentrate. But the visual spectacle is utterly absorbing. It's a film you can watch again and again and just ... well, just enjoy as a spectacle. But, if my review has intrigued you enough, I suggest you rent it first.
  • ralch
    January 25, 2009
    ralch
    Brilliant moviemaking. Music and image blend beautifully and Altman is a master of anticlimactic storytelling.
  • xxxcli213xxx
    December 18, 2008
    xxxcli213xxx
    really wana see this
  • joyfaith500
    December 10, 2008
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  • MiioOo
    November 17, 2008
    MiioOo
    hmm, habituellement je n'aime pas les film de dance..mais bon celui-ci etait quand meme assez bon merci...avec james franco en cook en plus...un mechant bonus :p
  • arashxak
    July 27, 2008
    arashxak
    Uninteresting, I really expected more from Altman, Just a showcase of dance pieces & I never liked dance movies
  • absolutnormal
    June 25, 2008
    absolutnormal
    *Yawn* Could not even finish the film!

View All The Company Reviews

Critic Reviews

February 5, 2004
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

It neither adores nor disapproves of its players, which leaves the moviegoer a little clueless, and unmoved. full review

January 30, 2004
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

A love letter to performers who put their egos and bodies on the line. full review

January 22, 2004
David Edelstein, Slate

This is an absolutely miraculous movie. full review

January 16, 2004
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

A loving tribute to artists, and to art. full review

January 16, 2004
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Feels like a documentary that's missing the surprises of real life. full review

January 9, 2004
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Altman, showing the ardor and assurance of a master, pulls us into his film with seductive power. full review

December 26, 2003
Marcy Dermansky, About.com

Neve Campbell trained for two years to dance with the Joffrey Ballet, and the highlight of "The Company" is her performance during a thunderstorm. full review

December 26, 2003
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Why did it take me so long to see what was right there in front of my face -- that The Company is the closest that Robert Altman has come to making an autobiographical film? full review

View more The Company reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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