3.5 stars. Rating: R, for profanity
By Derrick Bang
Almost four decades later, Robert
Redford continues to flee from The Establishment.
The Company You Keep has some pleasant echoes of
1975’s Three Days of the Condor,
particularly during the first act. Granted, this new thriller lacks any sort of
spy element, but in both cases Redford’s man on the run must outwit better
organized and far more numerous pursuers, while we audience members attempt to
solve the twisty mystery that fuels the hunt.
The political element is
significantly different, however, reflecting a greater maturity on Redford’s
part. His CIA researcher in Three Days of
the Condor was an undisputed good guy caught in a conspiracy that
anticipated the energy crisis: a vividly black-and-white scenario that
ultimately made a savior of the great Fourth Estate, and its ability to keep
the American public informed about vile doings.
Screenwriter Lem Dobbs’ view of
newspaper journalists is a bit more complicated in The Company You Keep, and the political subtext is various shades
of gray; indeed, it could be argued that Redford’s character here deserves to
be caught and punished. Absolute right and wrong are more difficult to pin
down, although confirmed leftists will be cheered by the fact that various good
fights still seem worth the effort.
The tone also is agreeable; the
shrill preaching that characterized Redford’s previous political drama, 2007’s Lions for Lambs, is largely absent here.
Granted, this new film also relies too much on talking heads at times,
particularly during a final act that wears out its welcome; some judicious
trimming could have made a better-paced drama out of this somewhat
self-indulgent 121-minute experience.
That said, it’s hard not to be
impressed by the cast Redford assembled (he also directed). You’ll rarely find
an ensemble as accomplished as Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Chris Cooper,
Stanly Tucci, Richard Jenkins, Brendan Gleeson and Nick Nolte; and tomorrow’s
stars are equally well represented by Shia LaBeouf, Brit Marling and Anna
Kendrick.
Many of these performers pop up
in relatively small roles, which ordinarily might be distracting, or invite an
accusation of stunt casting. But everybody perfectly fits their parts, and it’s
hard to argue with the results (at least, from an acting standpoint). In that
sense, The Company You Keep hearkens back
to Hollywood’s golden age, when similarly star-laden casts weren’t all that
unusual.
Dobbs’ screenplay is adapted from
Neil Gordon’s 2003 novel of the same title, which weaves a fictional thriller
around the actual activities of the domestic terrorist group known as the
Weather Underground, which split off from Students for a Democratic Society in
1969 and — in order to further its goal of overthrowing the U.S. government —
bombed a series of banks and government buildings in the 1970s. Anger over the
Vietnam War initially fueled both SDS and Weather Underground activities, but
the latter’s radicalized behavior quickly derailed any political credibility it
may have earned.
The end of the Vietnam War
brought an end to most “New Left” activities, but three former Weather
Underground members joined another extremist splinter group and participated in
a violent 1981 Brinks armored truck robbery. A security guard and two police
officers were killed; the culprits were caught and given lengthy prison terms.
Gordon used that event as the
hook for his novel, while playing fast and loose with established fact; Dobbs
retains these details to set up this big-screen adaptation.
The story opens as Sharon Solarz
(Sarandon), a former member of the Weather Underground who for 30 years has
concealed herself under a new identity as a happily married wife and mother,
abruptly decides to turn herself in. She isn’t quite able to orchestrate this
act of contrition on her own terms; a zealous FBI agent — Terrence Howard, as
Cornelius — denies her that satisfaction and arrests her first.
Cornelius’ anger derives from the
fact that Solarz has been on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for three decades, due
to her participation in a bank robbery that left a security guard dead. Solarz
was one of several Weather Underground members involved with that botched
robbery, and they all vanished into the protective cover of new names and
lives. Cornelius regards Solarz as the means to find all the others ... but she
isn’t talking.
At least, not directly.
Her case piques the curiosity of
Ben Shepard (LaBeouf), a cocky and ambitious reporter at the Albany Sun Times, who wonders why Solarz would
have surfaced after so long ... and why, through a mutual friend, she would
have sought legal representation from Jim Grant (Redford) ... and why Grant, an
activist attorney with a reputation for embracing leftist causes, would have
declined.
Although a resourceful researcher
and admirably dogged in his pursuit of truth, Shepard is an obnoxious and
arrogant little prick who takes a carpet-bombing approach to journalism. He
doesn’t care about who he bruises, batters or buries while chasing down a lead,
and has an equally unfortunate tendency to antagonize his sources: serious
character failings that vex long-suffering Sun
Times editor Ray Fuller (Tucci), who warns that Shepard’s attitude will get
him into trouble one day.
But Fuller can’t ignore the fact
that his young reporter seems to have caught a tiger by the tail, and gaining
credit for breaking this rapidly developing story can only help the struggling Sun Times’ financial bottom line. (Dobbs
obviously couldn’t pass up the opportunity to remind us how crucial newspapers remain:
a message, frankly, that we can’t hear often enough.) Ergo, Fuller reluctantly
grants Shepard permission to pursue the story.
Shepard has no trouble finding
Grant, and at first the latter’s savvy deflections and answers seem reasonable;
he’s a recently widowed single parent doing his best to raise a young daughter
— Jackie Evancho, adorable as Isabel — and he already has too much on his professional
plate. But Shepard isn’t satisfied, and it doesn’t take him long to stumble
upon the truth: Grant actually is the long-concealed Nick Sloan, another
Weather Underground member from the old days ... and also wanted for the
aforementioned bank robbery.
Knowing the FBI won’t be far
behind if Shepard has sussed him out, Grant retrieves documents and emergency
funds apparently prepared for just this eventually, and goes on the run. Oddly,
though, he doesn’t take Isabel with him, despite our having just watched a
tender scene between father and daughter, as he tells her that we always should hold tight to those we
love the most.
Very strange, then, that Grant
would leave her behind, even if as he takes steps to insure her safety.
Shepard, an experienced observer of psychology and motivation, can’t understand
this. Perhaps things aren’t quite as they seem?
Dobbs’ narrative explores several
intriguing moral imperatives that are guaranteed to fuel water-cooler
arguments, starting with whether one can compensate for a horrific act: Does a
subsequent lifetime of good deeds and model behavior atone for such a crime? Of
equal importance, though, is the degree to which innocents — children, friends
and other family members — become collateral damage after the exposure of a
long-buried lie.
We live in an era of rapacious
media scrutiny, and while this film conveys a strong sense of how Grant’s
exposure affects Isabel and his brother Daniel’s (Cooper) entire family, the
intrusive horror of suddenly being the center of unwanted attention probably
isn’t intense enough. Three decades later, Solarz and, yes, Grant have fresh
transgressions to answer for.
Redford (as actor) deftly keeps
us guessing; Grant seems likable and sincere. Making him a lawyer was a shrewd
choice, since it justifies his quick wit and perfect retorts; Redford, always
an eloquent and passionate actor, spars well with words.
LaBeouf walks an equally fine
line. On the one hand, we can’t help respecting Shepard’s investigative savvy;
on the other, he’s a true jerk who deserves the negative first impression
everybody seems to form. Despite this, LaBeouf grants his character moments of
self-deprecating candor that suggest Shepard might possess a soul. Maybe.
Somewhere.
LaBeouf also holds his own during
two key conversations: the first a revelatory holding-cell interview with Sarandon’s
Solarz; the second a flirty exchange with Rebecca Osborne (Marling), daughter
of the retired police chief (Gleeson) who worked on that bank robbery case,
back in the day.
Sarandon, penetrating of eye and
sharp of tongue, is mesmerizing during the aforementioned scene.
Nolte, Jenkins and Sam Elliott
are perfectly cast as former activists who’ve adopted various methods of trying
to move on: an effort this story argues is impossible.
Kendrick turns up as a rookie FBI
agent who unwisely allows a former relationship with Shepard to loosen her
tongue; sadly, we don’t spend enough time with her character. Stephen Root
nails his brief appearance as an aging hippie caught up in these events, and
Cooper is appropriately guarded as a doting younger brother who reluctantly
allows himself to be manipulated by family ties.
Redford (as director) and editor
Mark Day keep things smart and sharp for the first hour-plus, but the story drags
as we approach the climax, with its promise of Answers. The resolution likely
will divide viewers, as well: Some will be annoyed by what seems an attempt to
romanticize these former radicals — there was nothing honorable about the
actual Weather Underground — while others will smirk at the way Redford’s character
manages to eat his activist cake, and have it, too.
All things considered, then, The Company You Keep suffers a bit, its
flaws not entirely concealed by the sterling cast and their vibrant
performances. Pity, that.
No comments:
Post a Comment