Plot: What’s it about?
I don’t think I consider myself a journalist. Perhaps, by definition, the fact that I write and “publish” stories (albeit for a site I own and operate) might classify me as one. Put it this way, I watch movies like All the President’s Men and look at those guys and say “Yep, they’re journalists.” You know what, it doesn’t matter. Let me get started with the review. A couple of years ago I watched a very underrated movie by the name State of Play. It starred Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck and, without giving too much away, focused on a reporter (played by Crowe) and his story about a murder involving a Senator (played by Ben Affleck). So when I learned that Neil Gordon’s novel was going to be adapted into a movie and directed by Robert Redford – well, it does raise an eyebrow. After all, this is the man who portrayed Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men. Granted that’s about where the parallels stop, but Redford has assembled a veritable who’s who of Hollywood actors for the film. Intrigued yet? No? Well let’s see what it’s all about and maybe that’ll change your mind.
As the film opens we meet Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) who is arrested for a crime that was committed nearly forty years ago. Eager reporter Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) is assigned the story by his editor (Stanley Tucci) and as he starts to dig, finds that there’s quite a bit more than meets the eye. Ben seeks out local attorney Jim Grant (Robert Redford) to get some insight, but Ben soon finds out that Grant was actually Nick Sloan, a member of the same movement that involved Sharon. Jim seeks out his brother (Chris Cooper) to take care of his daughter (Jackie Evancho) while he goes on the run. Of course there’s more to the entire story than Ben initially thought and this “Weather Underground” seems to have gone the way of the dodo. However, there’s still a murder out there and someone needs to take the fall for it. The question is…who?
I deliberately skipped over a few plot points there as I didn’t want to ruin the movie for anyone, suffice it to say that there’s a lot more going on than my synopsis would seem to indicate. The sheer cast of characters/actors that are in the film is a testament to the influence that Redford still has and there’s really not a bad performance in the bunch. Granted the median age is probably over 60, but that’s another story. What I felt when I watched the movie was that there’s not always a need for gun shots, car chases and bombs to make a movie entertaining. While it’s not All the President’s Men, I did find it engrossing and engaging. I was also impressed with Shia LaBeouf who I really haven’t ever been a fan of. I mean, how serious can you take someone who’s been in three Transformers movies? Right. The Company You Keep was a bit overlooked and perhaps underrated, but I’d suggest giving it a look.
Video: How does it look?
I’m willing to be that anything with Robert Redford’s name attached to it won’t have a problem with budget. What I mean by that is this is a new to Blu-ray to film and with the top notch talent involved, I don’t think they skimped or tried to film an “indie movie.” The 2.40:1 AVC HD image is nearly perfect. As I mentioned earlier, the median age of the stars is that of AARP range, so the detail is more to showcase the grey hairs and wrinkles than it is to show the flawless features of youth. The movie has a variety of locales from the California coast of Big Sur to the somewhat vastness of Albany, New York. Black levels and contrast look to be on target and I was hard-pressed to find anything to complain about. I noticed no compression errors, no grain and save for a few blips here and there – this is as close to perfect as it gets. A fine effort.
Audio: How does it sound?
The DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack isn’t the most robust out there, then again it most likely wasn’t supposed to be. Dialogue takes front and center here (literally) with the vocals sounding rich and full. Redford’s deep voice commands the scenes with zero distortion coming out of the speakers. Surrounds are present, though not prevalent and I’m sure the LFE were used, but for the life of me I can’t seem to think of an instance where I took notice. This mix is consistent with that of a dialogue-driven drama and it delivers.
Supplements: What are the extras?
We don’t get a lot of supplements of note here, but there are a few featurettes as well as a nice press conference, which is a feature that’s not on a lot of discs. “Behind the Scenes: The Movement” has some members of the cast as they discuss the film and its roots. “Behind the Scenes: The Script, Preparation and the Cast” is more of the same, though we get a bit more blatant ass-kissing by the lesser-known members of the film. “On the Red Carpet” has some typical footage with Redford introducing a few of the cast (Brit Marling and Jackie Evancho) and “The Company You Keep Press Conference” in which selected members of the cast answer some questions. Also included is the original theatrical trailer and an UltraViolet copy for your other devices.
