The Company
Reviewed by Lee Shoquist for Reel Movie Critic
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Cast
Neve Campbell	Ry
Malcolm McDowell	Alberto Antonelli
James Franco	Josh
Directed by Robert Altman. A drama. Rated PG-13, for minor nudity and language. Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 112 minutes.

Classically trained ballet dancer and actress Neve Campbell gets to put her discipline to good use in Robert Altman's "The Company," an inside look at the arduous life of ballet dancers at Chicago's famed Joffrey Ballet. The film, of certain merit though not one of Altman's best, is notable for its rigorous attention to the process of rehearsal and its beautifully performed dance numbers, but less memorable for any kind of compelling human drama. It's a love letter to the dance, eschewing a narrative in favor of capturing a glimpse of what makes the company tick and the almost soaring beauty of the art form itself.

There's very little in the way of plot. Ry (Campbell) is a young dancer and part-time cocktail waitress on the verge of making it big with the ballet company. Between rehearsals and performances, she gets involved with Josh (James Franco), a nice guy chef. Dancers rehearse. Shows are performed. There are glimpses of backstage dynamics. There's very little tension in the group. No backstage cat fights here. Forget about the cliché young ballerina paying her dues and ending up on top-it doesn't happen. The romance is threadbare. We learn little about Ryan or what makes her tick. We don't get close to any of the dancers, who are generically presented, or learn why they feel passion for the art form.

Altman opts instead to train his eye on the formidable rehearsal process and the small successes and disappointments within the company itself. However true or untrue this may be to what actually happens in a dance company, what you come away with is an appreciation of the Joffrey Ballet's inner workings, with nothing here sensationalized or trumped up into contrivance.

The film's best performance comes from Malcolm McDowell as Joffrey's campy, protective and aggressively demanding artistic director. McDowell's flamboyance in the role comprises the film's most entertaining and developed character.

Neve Campbell, who co-wrote the story and co-produced the film, acts in a direct fashion that, as dictated by the simplicity of her role, doesn't require much depth or complexity. However, her dancing is quite lovely and during one sequence, set in Chicago's Grant Park amphitheater during a lightning storm, inspired and transporting.

Altman and screenwriter Barbara Turner employ a curiously non-committal approach to the relationships in the film, all of which are handled on a surface level. As a result, the film avoids recycling the usual backstage clichés, but also fails to ignite much personal interest. Consequently, "The Company" registers as a minor Altman film.

But it's enjoyable nonetheless, for its straightforward look at the rehearsal process of a ballet company, and its illumination of the creative process that goes into how the dance is constructed behind the scenes. "The Company" gets high marks for its attention to the dance. It's in the human moments that this film needs more training.