1. MikaelP.

   3

   This movie appeared as the closing film for the High Falls Film Festival in Rochester, New York, where many great small and foreign films were revealed, especially In America. This film, on the other hand, sucked us in and then spit us out, completely disappointed. Great talent does show itself in this film, but the entire experience is utterly banal, as the film has NO plot. None. It can be said that it is a documentary about a dance studio in Chicago, and some of the things that occured in the course of that studio's existence are revealed. You know what? Nobody cares about the story, because there is no plot, and the character traits and development are lost and pointless. The only draw of the film was the dancing talent that was shown, which, as I feel that anyone else in that theater can support me on, would be better seen at a REAL dance studio today. The whole experience is lost onscreen. After the film ended and we realized how pointless it was, one of the "writers" went onstage and was interviewed about the experience of writing the screenplay. She admitted that Altman had requested that no story should exist, so that is exactly what he got. Prior film interviews at the festival had brought out many questions from the audience, but very few people wanted to ask her any questions, seeing as how there was really nothing to ask about. Nothing. So folks, take it from someone who has lasted perienced its pointlessness. Ignore the critics' praise of Altmanism. This is possible the least consecquential movie of the year.… Expand

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2. HelenS.

   2

   Can I say BORING? I just rented this and fell asleep 20 minutes into it. There is no story line, no character development and some of the choreography looks like it's making fun of ballet. Neve Campbell is non-existent and has barely any lines. What is the point of this movie?… Expand

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3. JoshC

   0

   Robert Altman has been plugging away on movie sets, manufacturing adroit classics, odious train wrecks, and—most often—ambitious mediocrities for more than five decades. Virtually every gracious label our culture has for individualists has been garlanded upon him at one point or another. But it may be his dogged prolificness that makes him so unreliable. Too easily inspired, too repetitive, and too seduced by sophomoric ideas, Altman would seem to rather make a crummy movie than make no movie at all. The Company, his 36th feature (not counting a slew of TV movies and miniseries), is Altman-doing-ballet, just as he's done war hospitals, country music, health faddism, Yankee family rites, fashion, jazz, and Brit class combat. All of the familiar Altman tools—overheard dialogue, distracted zooms, multi-plane character clutter, persona thumbnailing—are out on the table, but his sardonic tone (which has varied from razor-sharp to rubber-chicken-ish) is not. The entire contraption assembled to please the ego of Neve Campbell. Altman didn't (or couldn't) trick out the rest of the film as he often does with colorful cameos, but the anemic script hungers for a hectic Rene Auberjonois or Bob Balaban walk-on. Containing little we haven't seen in dozens of behind-the-tutu documentaries, the scenes of rehearsal and choreographic tweaking can nonetheless be interesting in a working-reality manner, but The Company provides no connective tissue. The rigors of practice, the toll on body and soul—not on the radar. There's not only no drama, there are no situations. Everything on the screen is rote and empty. This film proves that Altman is the most overrated American filmmaker of the last 35 years.… Expand

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