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Customer Reviews of The Company

Look Inside the World of World-Class Ballet.
In "The Company", Robert Altman applies his pseudo-documentary directing style to The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. In a style that reminds me very much of Altman's acclaimed 1975 film "Nashville", "The Company" gives us an intimate view of a year in the life of The Joffrey Ballet. Screenwriter Barbara Turner spent a few years getting to know the Joffrey's dancers and recording their stories, which she then transformed into a screenplay for "The Company". Actress Neve Campbell, who was a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada before going to Hollywood, co-produces, acts and dances in the film. "The Company" has an ensemble cast, with a subtle concentration on the life of Neve Campbell's character, Ry. Six days a week of training and rehearsals leaves Ry little time for a personal life, but she struggles to make time for her boyfriend (James Franco) and a second job at a Goth bar while she eats, sleeps, and breathes dance. Malcolm McDowell plays the company's artistic director, Alberto Antonelli, a role inspired by the Joffrey's real Artistic Director, Gerald Arpino. The dancers are all played, quite convincingly, by The Joffrey Ballet's dancers.

I really enjoyed "The Company", but you probably either have to really like Robert Altman's work or really like dance to like this film. To say the story arch is unpronounced would be an understatement. The story is the dedication and talent of these dancers. Nothing unusual happens. We simply observe them. I gather that that's the point. The dancers' performances and commitment are extraordinary. Emotions are high; good and bad things happen; but that's ordinary in the life of a professional ballet dancer. "The Company" 's pace is thoroughly even, and its tone is subdued. I thought at first that watching this film was going to require patience, as so many of Altman's film's do. But I was quickly sucked in by the opportunity to see inside the ballet subculture, along with some incredible dancing.

There is a lot of footage of The Joffrey Ballet's performances. All of them are modern, not classical. And we can see even more of the dancers in their movie roles, to which they take quite naturally. Neve Campbell trained for months and became a temporary member of The Joffrey to make this film. She appears in eight dances in the film, although you may not be able to pick her out in all of them. "The Company" is her tribute to the world of dance that she loves, and it turns out to be a perfect subject for Robert Altman's signature directing style. If Altman's signature style makes you groan, you may still like "The Company", as it's broken up with fantastic performances by The Joffrey Ballet.

The DVD: Bonus features include an audio commentary by director Robert Altman and Neve Campbell, a making-of featurette, "The Passion of Dance" featurette, an "Extended Dance Sequence", and the ability to play all of the dance sequences from the film. The audio commentary is really pretty interesting. I found myself listening to more of it than I had intended. Robert Altman and Neve Campbell discuss the film's genesis, its style, their experiences filming and interacting with The Joffrey. It includes a lot of information about the dancing in the film and more insight into the Joffrey and the world of ballet. The "Making of Featurette" is a 7-minute documentary that features interviews with Altman, Campbell, Malcolm McDowell, and James Franco. In "The Passion of Dance" (4 minutes), Neve Campbell talks about the demanding world of professional ballet and her desire to make a film about it. The "Extended Dance Sequence" is a 2-minute dance sequence that takes place in the film's dance studio. It's not very interesting. I recommend the audio commentary, even if you don't have time to listen to the whole thing.

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For ballet fans, the best ballet movie ever made.
For the ballet fan, this is a brilliant movie. It's likely the first ballet movie to give the viewer an authentic sense of what ballet is really like, behind the scenes, day-by-day, in a performing company. In this case, the company is the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, whose dancers participated in the picture. The director is Robert Altman, and the movie is magnificently produced, filmed, and performed. The Joffrey emerges from the film looking like the best ballet company in the world and gains from it the best of all possible advertisements.

Neve Campbell, the film's star, had been a professional dancer and had trained at Canada's National School of Ballet from age 9 (she started dancing at age 6). She gave up dancing because a long history of injuries (about 40, in all) intersected with an increasing number of acting opportunities. When she was cast in "Party of Five" at age 20, the acting took over her career.

Her contributions to the picture are staggering to contemplate. The seven-year project that it represents was Campbell's dream. Briefly (and over-simplified), she conceived the idea, sold it, co-wrote the story with Barbara Turner, and nursed the project through an intensive final three-year gestation period, where she and Turner commuted to Chicago to spend time with the Joffrey observing classes, rehearsals, and performances and getting to know the dancers. Then Turner and Campbell persuaded Altman to direct the film, after which Campbell spent 4 1/2 months of 8 1/2-hour days dancing herself back into performing shape and another 1 1/2 months of 8 1/2-hour days dancing with the Joffrey prior to the start of shooting.

Three days before she was to join the company, she broke a rib. She danced through the month-and-a-half with the Joffrey and the entire filming with that injury. She performed not only as the movie's dramatic but also as its ballet star. She did all of her own dance scenes and also served as co-producer. Her acting and her dancing in "The Company" are both superb.

The dance sequences are sensationally good and sensationally well filmed. Perhaps the best of a most memorable lot is Campbell's and partner Domingo Rubio's performance of "My Funny Valentine," a pas de deux ballet, in an outdoor Chicago venue as a summer storm rolls in, lending its thunder, lightning, wind, and rain accompaniment to the on-stage trio and the Lar Lubovitch choreography. This is the same ballet that American Ballet Theatre has performed with Sandra Brown and Julie Kent dancing Campbell's role. Lubovitch originally made the ballet on Sandra Brown. Indeed, a very brief rehearsal-tape clip of ABT's Sandra Brown and Marcelo Gomes is shown being watched by Joffrey personnel and the choreographer as they prepare the ballet for performance.

The audience for the movie may be narrow because the picture is all about ballet, a ballet company, and the way those associated with that company lead their lives; in many cases in a state of near-poverty, which is tolerable in exchange for the opportunity to dance (Campbell's character has a second job as a waitress to help pay the rent). "The Company" has the flavor of a documentary, albeit a considerably enhanced one, because its focus on dance, ballet culture, and the ambience of dancers' lives does not permit an elaborate problem-solution or beginning-middle-end story line. Think Frederick Wiseman (a la his ABT documentary) with dialog and a near-heroine.

Campbell did not want this movie to be the standard corps-to-stardom ballet melodrama, and she did not want it to be about her. While it is clear that she is one of the film's principal interests, she pretty successfully blends into the body of the company, which really is the film's principal interest. For fans of ballet, it is the best ballet movie ever made. There is nothing phony or artificial or sentimental about it. The message is simple and direct: This is the way it is in the ballet world.

And it is beautifully cast and wonderfully acted in those segments where there is the opportunity for acting. Malcolm McDowell, as the company's artistic director, is splendid. James Franco, as Campbell's love interest of the moment, is as fully beautiful a person as she. And Campbell is heroic in any dimension one cares to name. A single measure of that: When the film concluded its shooting, Gerald Arpino, the real-life artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet, asked Campbell to join the real-life company.

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A Tour de Force Of A FIlm!
I love ballet! I love good dance in general. So watching Robert Altman's "The Company" was 112 minutes of pure bliss. Altman takes us onstage, and off-stage, for a look at the world of dance, dancers, choreographers, set and costume designers and a ballet director, Alberto Antonelli, played wonderfully well by Malcolm McDowell. Actress Neve Campbell, best known for her roles in horror flicks, was trained for years in classical ballet. She is absolutely beautiful, and an extraordinarily lithe, exciting dancer. (No more scary movies Neve!!). It is obvious that she has put a lot of herself into this film. Not only does she play a major role, but she co-wrote and co-produced the movie. She did all of her own dancing, and seems to fit right in with the professional dancers from the Joffrey Ballet Troupe of Chicago, which is featured here.

The film is loosely structured and documentary-like. The viewer gets a a fly on the wall look at a dancer's life as Altman takes us behind the scenes, up close and personal. We watch both the professional and personal - from the grueling physical toll of constant practice to brilliant performances. The dancers' effort to perfect their mastery of dance is totally honest, and this artistic honesty really makes the film as special as a live performance. There are some spectacular dance performances throughout, with splendid colors, electric energy, creative costumes, and wonderful footwork which showcase the Joffrey Ballet Company. There's an opening modern piece where dancers leap across the stage with streamers, that is just fabulous. In another sequence a ballerina dances on and around a swing. Altman's camera emphasizes her grace and elegance, and this is one of the movie's high points for me. Neve Cambell also dances a marvelous pas de deux onstage, during an outdoor concert performance, in the rain. The effects are incredible. The music is "My Funny Valentine." The last number, the piece de resistance, is more garish than grande, unfortunately. The costumes and choreography look as if they had been designed for Sesame Street. I still enjoyed it, however. Just wanted to be fair and balanced here.

Ballet director Antonelli, (McDowell), is a temperamental tyrant who meddles in every aspect of the ballet. But he is also charismatic, funny, and acknowledged as the troupe's backbone. Neve Campbell plays Ry, a member of the ensemble who is increasingly given important roles, as her talent merits. Her love interest, (James Franco), is a hunk! The chemistry between them is dynamite! We are also shown the tempermental behavior, tantrums, stress and strife that go on backstage.

There's no major story here, just enough to entice. The main attraction is fantastic dance. Highly recommended for aficionados and beginners alike.
JANA