The Worst Film Ever

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Even though, the man's acting career spans almost six decades, Robert Redford has only managed to garner only two Academy Awards, and none of those were for his performances. He won the Oscar for Best Directing in 1981 for "Ordinary People" and the second in 2002 was a consolation Award for sticking around long enough which clearly defines why the Lifetime Achievement Award stands for. The closest credit he ever got in terms of acting was a Best Actor nomination in 1973 for "The Sting". With this movie, "The Company You Keep", in which Redford both stars and directs here the chances of him receiving any Oscars are slim to none.In many way to get a first impression on career goals, you have to start from the bottom. Here's where we meet Ben Shepherd (Shia LeBoeuf), a young journalist who works for a newspaper outlet in Albany, New York, The Albany Sun Times, where he'll go through great lengths to please his editor Ray Fuller (Stanley Tucci).The story commences as we are introduced to Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) whom back in the late 1960's and early 1970's was a member of the infamous Weathermen Underground and has been under investigation since then as she made the FBI's Most Wanted list. Thirty five years later, she's under arrest which leaves our inquisitive-minded young reporter Ben wondering, how did they find after so many years?An associate of hers calls Albany attorney, Jim Grant (Redford) to defend her in court, but he rebuffs the request saying that he's too busy and feels he's just simply not up to this kind of case.When word caught onto Ben, he stops by Jim's place to ask questions about it. After all, any attorney would chomp at the opportunity for a case like this, so why does he refuse? Jim tells Ben that it's much harder for one to understand. Things have changed drastically since his wife died and now he has to keep eye on his young daughter, but Ben does not bite into his excuse one bit.After going into further research into the Weathermen Underground, Ben discovers that it's just a rouse to get another member of the Weathermen Underground out of hiding so that they could be on the run until they're proved innocent. This puts Ben in an awkward disposition as he questions his moral ethics as a journalist as he's caught in the middle of whether to rat on a former Weathermen or not to keep this aging man in hiding.The last time Redford both starred and directed a film at once was the 2007 film "Lions for Lambs" which he co-starred with Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. It comes to no surprise that he really knows where to gather his talent pool. Here Redford pulls out an ensemble of very talented performers with the likes of Anna Kendrick, Nick Nolte, Sam Elliot, Richard Jenkins, Chris Cooper and Julie Christie. And even though they play their roles brilliantly, it's the script that is the main flaw that holds this film shy of greatness. Although the story looks into a moment in history that's rarely examined, it lacks in terms of anything that's impulsive. In kind of had that feeling Redford wanted in on this project. The movie is loosely based off of a novel by Neil Gordon of the same title. Not only that, but the film's backdrop is within the realm of political intrigue. Redford digs movies that has a strong political vibe to it.Sadly this story loses its spark as we see an aging old man taking constant trips to the bathroom and for a two film it does drag on like that for way too long.If there was any performance that stood out, it was from Shia LeBoeuf. Whether you like him or not, he really turned out a role that was more intelligent than his previous ones. Which shows that given a proper role, one that he could chomp at, he can show that he does have talent. The other performers also display good talent here, although Nick Nolte can use a little work here as his lines seem to slur a bit here and there.Not to be putting down a person of their age, but I thing Redford should just either direct or act. There's no need to multi-task. And seeing that he's in the twilight of his life, I think he needs to slow it down a bit. Even though he may have a few moments of great dialogue, but overall his role was disappointing and lacked in charisma.Considering that this film is strong in its political sentiments, the film lacks in terms of offering something of impact. I wanted to know more about this Weathermen Underground organization which was an illicit group that strongly opposed the Vietnam War and went to extreme liberal measures to get there message across even if it costed them their freedom or their reputation. We just never given much insight on this film as it depended on human drama and overlong scenes that had little to offer the story.

Although I realize that the movie is based on a novel and is entirely fictional, my first hope when I decided to watch it was that I might nevertheless learn something about the Weather Underground. I'm fairly familiar with US history, but I have to confess that all I knew about the group was that it was a violent anti-Vietnam group, so I looked forward to gaining a little more knowledge. That possibility was put to rest by the fact that the movie has the group pulling off a bank robbery in 1980 - long after the group had ceased to exist. (Why the bank robbery wouldn't have been put farther back into the past to make this more believable is a mystery.) So my primary hope in watching this really wasn't achieved. But how did it work as a movie; as a piece of entertainment? I can't say that I found it a gripping two hours.The movie started far too abruptly with the arrest of Sharon (Susan Sarandon) for the long ago (even if it was 1980) robbery and murder of a bank guard. The basic story really needed to be introduced a bit more before that happened. But after that happens, the film settles into its basic story, as with the FBI searching for him, Jim (really Nick - played by Robert Redford) suddenly has to go on the run, seeking out the one person who can confirm that he wasn't a part of the robbery and murder. For the most part I just didn't find this very interesting. It features a lot of well known names (Redford - who also directed - and Sarandon, but also people like Nick Nolte and Sam Elliott and Julie Christie) but, for me, it didn't feature a lot of performances that really stood out. Redford's age (he was 76 when this as made) was a big problem for me - especially as he was portrayed as the father of an 11 year old daughter. Not impossible, I agree, but it seemed far-fetched - and I thought Redford at times looked his age. Shia LaBeouf, who played a reporter, was entirely unnecessary to the story, quite frankly. I didn't really need the reporter to push this story forward to be honest. The closest thing to a plot twist in this (revolving around the adopted daughter of the sheriff who investigated the bank robbery years before) was one I had figured out almost from the beginning.There was a bit of intensity toward the end of the movie when we wondered if Mimi (Christie) was going to escape to Canada or return to save Nick's skin, but aside from that I found that my attention simply kept wandering as the movie plodded along. (3/10)

Normally one does not expect a suspense thriller to offer much insight or depth of thought. What Robert Redford accomplished here is quite a piece of work as he brings a lot of real life issues seamlessly into that framework. The major one is the generation gap - the difficulty of a younger generation to really grasp what the old timers (played by legacy greats such as Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie and so on) are so painfully trying to gab about. Think of Eastwood's Grand Torino and you get the general idea. Another issue is the role of media and nature of journalism, handled very intelligently and in depth (trust me, I'm a journalist so I should know). I found the interplay between Redford as the old lawyer and Shia LaBeouf as the young journalist to be absolutely exemplary. The chase plot was really not the reason for the film to be made but it worked fine for me. I also enjoyed the fact that some key turns of the plot are not explained verbally but are quickly and clearly shown to the viewer. A sure sign of a master director.

The Company You Keep welcomes back Robert Redford to the director's chair and compared to his other films, this thriller seems more low-key and it arrives with less fanfare. Now not a fan of politics, I am keenly aware of Redford's political thoughts and thus his stance as a moderate liberal gives this film a conscience. In other words, it's a tense thriller that talks about an important part of our history which is practically the unrest the Vietnam War caused in this country.Robert Redford's film is about a former Weather Underground radical leader named Jim Grant who has been discovered after thirty years of being on the run as he was accused of a bank robbery. Now he is on the run and is forced to meet with old associates of his to prove his innocence and he also has to face the aggressive newspaper reporter named Ben Shepard.This film must have set a record for how many big names appear in this movie. I've never seen so many Oscar-nominated actors and actresses appear in one film. But for the most part, they all do well despite the majority of them having small screentimes. Robert Redford is still a great actor at his age. Since everyone from Susan Sarandon to Stanley Tucci to Brendan Gleeson all do well, I will only mention the weakest actor here and that is Shia LaBeouf. He was annoying at times and he couldn't catch up to everyone's starpower here.Overall, The Company You Keep is a quiet, slow-burning thriller but it has some political questions to ask and for the kind of thriller it is, it's very sharp. It's well-written and features heavy dialogue. I wouldn't call this a cliché thriller since there were some unexpected surprises. It did a good job on holding my interest and I actually learned a thing or two about American history. I rate this film 9/10.