Review of The Company You Keep (2012) by Amilcar A — 20 Apr 2013

When you try to bite more than you can chew the aftermath might not be pretty. The Company You Keep is the quintessential example of a movie that gets out of control because it's too ambitious and there are just too many people and faces fighting for screen time and there's just not enough film to go around.

TCYK is not a bad movie by any means, it's just not a particularly good one either. It's a shame since the idea was good and the cast is incomparable. However, like I mentioned above, there is just too much going on and the plot gets thin.

Movies like this one have become increasingly rare. Political or ideological thrillers are becoming scarce. Perhaps it's the fact that the multiplexes are now dominated by teens that only understand something if it's plagued with special effects. This is a movie that feels a bit outside it's time. 20 years ago, there would have been lines outside the theater to watch it.

Robert Redford delivers weakish performance as a wanted man for a crime he committed over 30 years ago. This crime is not an ordinary one since it's the product of a bank robbery from an anarchist and radical group from the 60's. Damn hippies.

Clearly Mr. Redford is not going to be the bad guy so lots of stuff happens along the way. Sadly, nothing that happens is particularly thrilling or controversial.

TCYK is worth a ticket but it's slightly disappointing.