Movie Review: The Company You Keep

The Company You Keep
Directed by: Robert Redford.
Written by: Lem Dobbs based on the novel by Neil Gordon.
Starring: Robert Redford (Jim Grant), Shia LaBeouf (Ben Shepard), Julie Christie (Mimi Lurie), Sam Elliott (Mac McLeod), Jackie Evancho (Isabel Grant), Brendan Gleeson (Henry Osborne), Terrence Howard (Cornelius), Richard Jenkins (Jed Lewis), Anna Kendrick (Diana), Brit Marling (Rebecca Osborne), Stanley Tucci (Ray Fuller), Nick Nolte (Donal), Chris Cooper (Daniel Sloan), Susan Sarandon (Sharon Solarz).

Robert Redford excels at directing the kind of mainstream, intelligent, political thrillers that used to be crowd-pleasers in the 1970s, but now are the type of movie that Hollywood has either forgotten how to make, or just aren’t interested in anymore. His last two films, Lions for Lambs and The Conspirator, are solid, intelligent, well-acted movies that got solid, not spectacular, reviews from critics and were pretty much ignored by audiences. His latest film, The Company You Keep, will most likely inspire the same reaction. It is not a great film – neither was Lions for Lambs or The Conspirator – but it is a solid, intelligent political thriller, classically structured and wonderfully well-acted. It somewhat saddens me that a film like this will most likely struggle to find an audience – it deserves one because it is wonderfully entertaining.

The movie stars Redford himself, as Jim Grant, an upstate New York lawyer who seems like just another liberal do-gooder – a holdover from the 1960s who while not an idealist, still wants to do the right thing. But when Sharon Solar (Susan Sarandon) is arrested after being on the FBI’s most wanted list for 30 years, Grant’s life comes unraveled. And that’s because Grant isn’t who he appears to be – or at least, wasn’t always what he appears like now. Solar was a member of the Weather Underground, the radical 1960s group that sprung out of the anti-war movement, and unlike most, had no trouble committing violence. They didn’t want to kill anyone, but did want to  bring the war home. Solar was involved in a bank robbery gone wrong, where a security guard was murdered. Three other people were also involved – the triggerman died in prison years before, but the rest have been hiding out for three decades – and Jim Grant was one of those men. An enterprising young reporter – Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) starts digging around Grant, because he has a source that tells him that Grant turned down the opportunity to defend Solar. Why would he do that? Knowing it was just a matter of time before his secret was exposed – and being the single parent of an 11 year old girl – Grant goes on the run, leaving his daughter behind. But nothing Grant does makes any sense. He doesn’t seem to be trying to disappear – but rather try to prove something.

I’m sure there will be some who view The Company You Keep as another out of touch liberal diatribe from Hollywood. And to be fair, there are moments where The Company You Keep does come close to doing that – especially a very on the nose scene of an interview between LaBeouf and Sarandon, where Sarandon says “We made mistakes, but we were right” (this scene shouldn’t work, but Sarandon has the ability to pull it off). But while the movie certainly has more sympathy for the Weather Underground than some audiences will, I think The Company You Keep is really about how ideals clash with reality. To a certain extent, everyone in the movie is an idealist – no matter what side they fall on. But they all have their ideals tested.

The Company You Keep is an actor’s showcase – even the smallest roles are filled with talented actors, who bring more weight to their roles than they otherwise would have. Talented actors like Richard Jenkins, Brendan Gleeson, Anna Kendrick, Terrence Howard, Chris Cooper, Sam Elliot, Stanley Tucci, Brit Marling all show up and have just a scene or two. Out of all of the actors like this, Nick Nolte has the biggest impact. Nolte, who was once named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, now has a weathered face, and gruff voice that sounds like every word just might kill him, and while he only has a few brief scenes, his role leaves an impact. The three keys roles – by Redford, still better than most at using his movie star charm, LaBeouf, who is better here than I’ve seen him elsewhere, and Julie Christie, as the one person whose ideals may be the strongest, are also quite good. While the movie may lay things on a little thick at times, the talented cast keeps the movie afloat.

The Company You Keep was adapted (and simplified) from a novel by Neil Gordon. Both the film and book would have benefited from a little more complexity – making it harder to like Redford’s character, and forcing the audience to make a choice, and choose a side. Still, while The Company You Keep is not a great movie, it is a good one – a well-crafted, old school, intelligent political thriller. There are too few movies like this one being made – so even if the movie isn’t great, it certainly deserves some attention.

Movie Review: The Conspirator

The Conspirator ***
Directed by: Robert Redford.
Written By: James D. Solomon.
Starring: James McAvoy (Frederick Aiken), Robin Wright (Mary Surratt), Kevin Kline (Edwin Stanton), Tom Wilkinson (Reverdy Johnson), Evan Rachel Wood (Anna Surratt), Danny Huston (Joseph Holt), Justin Long (Nicholas Baker), Alexis Bledel (Sarah Weston), Johnny Simmons (John Surratt), Toby Kebbell (John Wilkes Booth), James Badge Dale (William Hamilton), Jonathan Groff (Louis Weichmann), Norman Reedus (Lewis Payne), Stephen Root (John Lloyd), Chris Bauer (Major Smith), Colm Meaney (David Hunter).

Filmmakers often use incidents in the past to comment on the present. Robert Redford’s The Conspirator is about the Lincoln assassination and its aftermath, but it is impossible not to think about the War on Terror when watching it. His uses the past to illuminate the present – and he has also crafted a finely made historical drama to boot.

The film stars James McAvoy as Frederick Aiken, a hero for the Union during the Civil War, who returns injured from the war, and wanting to resume his career as a lawyer. Like everyone else in the North, he is shocked and sickened when John Wilkes Booth assassinates Abraham Lincoln, and is among the many calling for the blood of not only Booth, but on those who helped him. The Lincoln assassination was only one part of a multi-pronged plan by Booth and his co-conspirators, who also wanted to murder the Vice President, and the Secretary of State, among others. Booth was the only one who succeeded. So it is with great reluctance that Aiken agrees to defend Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), the only woman charged with conspiring to carry out the plot. He only does it because his boss, Senator Revedy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), forces him to do it. Johnson believes in the rule of law, and is horrified that the conspirators will not be tried in civilian court, but by a military tribunal, handpicked by the Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline), and will not even be allowed to testify in their own defense. But Johnson is also smart enough to know that Surratt has no chance if he were to defend her himself – he is an old time Southerner, who although he was loyal to the Union during the Civil War, will be seen as too sympathetic to her and perhaps even her cause. If she has any chance, she has to be defended by someone like Aiken – someone whose loyalty could never be questioned – or so he thinks anyway.

Aiken doesn’t want the case. Like everyone else, he thinks she is guilty and deserves whatever punishment she has coming to her, but he really doesn’t have a choice. It’s only gradually as he gets to know Surratt, and see how paltry the State’s case against her really is. It is essentially built upon the testimony of two men – neither of whom seems to be an overly reliable witness. But Surratt refuses to help Aiken put on the defense that he wants to – which is essentially to blame her son John for all the things they say Mary did. John is the one conspirator who has slipped through the grasp of the Union, who now desperate to hold someone responsible, has turned to Mary – whose only crime that they can really prove is that he is a Southerner, who while running a boarding house in Washington, allowed Booth to stay there.

Watching the film, it is impossible not to think of the current situation, in which suspected terrorists are held without trial, and many want them tried by military tribunals instead of civilian courts. There is a lot of talk in the film about what they were fighting the Civil War for, if it was not to protect the Constitution, and the citizens rights – even during times of war, and when it is hard to do so. It is clear where Redford comes down on this issue.

The film is impeccably made, with a wonderful eye for period detail – the costumes, production design and cinematography certainly add to the period feel. Although Redford’s goal was to obviously make a film relating to the policies of today, he hasn’t strayed too far from the historical record in making his film. The performances are strong as well, but to a certain extent, all the characters other than McAvoy’s are fairly one note – they establish their characters early, and do not change. That isn’t to say that Wright doesn’t deliver an emotional performance as the ever loyal mother, or that Kevin Kline shouldn’t be praised for taking what could have the villain of the piece, and making him, if not sympathetic, than at least understandable (he truly does believe in what he is doing), just that they don’t really develop much per se. Redford is more interested in the story, and the modern parallels to do much on that front.

Overall though, The Conspirator is a smart historical drama – the type of film that Hollywood seems to have forgotten how to make. It is intelligent, well directed and well acted, and really, what else could you want?