Review of The Company You Keep (2012) by Stacey O — 23 Aug 2013

In a lot of ways, The Company You Keep is the sort of drama that we need more of, one with a preoccupation with dialogue and build-up, rather than forced chase sequences or overly simplistic commentary about complex social issues. It has a very mature feel to it, in that it tries to convey a sense of dramatic tension organically, yet it never fully delivers on this tension, and never quite lives up to the bar which it tries to set for itself.

The film tells the story of a family man who, through a seemingly inexplicable series of events, finds himself exposed as a fugitive of a militant leftist group. The film follows both the man (Redford), and the journalist on his trail. Though this sort of trope is familiar, that of the young budding journalist with an uncanny ability to put the pieces together, the film did a generally good job of not telegraphing where it was going to go, at least immediately. The problem is that the script bogs down the film in the mid to later acts with a plot that feels terribly overwritten, and an ending that feels strangely too simplistic. Interesting plot lines are raised, but never paid off, the resolutions that do occur never feel well earned. This is a symptom of unpolished script writing, as well as a lack of focus with Redford's direction. Redford seemingly wanted to do a lot of things, but never excelled at one thing. Thus, the film feels incomplete as a drama, and certainly incomplete as a thriller.

The performances, to be sure, are characteristically strong, especially by Redford. We are treated to these characters in a very old-school, almost clinical manner, and are therefore left to wonder about the motivations involved, which does make for some interesting character dynamics. The pace is slow, but consistently slow, and befitting of the material. Technically it's well made, and never boring (occasionally tedious perhaps). As such, it does enough right to keep you interested, but ultimately does fall in to that ever-frustrating category of "it could've been more".

3/5 Stars.