The Company You Keep

Just found this in the bargain bin for $3. What a cast! Shia had such potential, very intense, perfect for this role. Maybe he can find his way out of wherever he is now and become the great actor he was on the brink of being. In general, the cast just looked old and tired for the activities they had to perform. I found that took away from what was a very interesting and varied plot line with enough twists to keep me interested for the whole 2 hours plus. I do recommend this film and it will go on my 'keepers' shelf for future viewing.

The Company You Keep keeps excellent company; Robert Redford, Chris Cooper, Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Terrence Howard, Sam Elliott, Stephen Root, Julie Christie, Richard Jenkins. I would usually say that no movie can be bad that includes these people (even Stanley Tucci and Shia LaBeouf; Anna Kendrick as an FBI agent, on the other hand that dog will not hunt, Monsignor), but the movie turns out to be too much of a good thing; these actors are capable of generating such a massive amount of gravitas that Redford, who also directs, ends up losing control and the film falls under its own weight.

All those names in the credits make TCYK seem deeper than it really is, until we discover that screenwriter Lem Dobbs didn't bother to give them ...