The Company You Keep
Director: Robert Redford
Cast: Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Richard Jenkins, Stanley Tucci, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Brendon Gleeson, Terence Howard
Rating: (M)
3 stars (out of 5)
The Company You Keep is an apt title once you grasp the breadth of acting talent that director Robert Redford has assembled.
Calling on friends and acquaintances, Redford's modus operandi seems to be that if you throw enough acting chops at the script the rest will take care of itself ... well, not quite.
This isn't to say that there aren't some commendable performances, because there are, but they are more bit-part cameos. Based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gordon, The Company You Keep is a thriller designed to cater for ex-hippies who still romanticise '60s social-activism while safely ensconced behind their white picket fences.
For the past 30 years, widowed father of one, Jim Grant (Redford), has been a model citizen working as a defence attorney in upstate New York.
When the FBI arrest former activist Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) for the murder of a bank security guard in the '70s, over-eager reporter Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) starts digging into Grant's past.
What transpires is a classic case of cat and mouse as Shepard starts to reveal details about Grant's past that even outfoxes one of the most powerful criminal investigation units in the world.
This is just one of several glaring inconsistencies that requires a wee suspension of disbelief. The Company You Keep is good enough to keep you guessing, but when the revelations arrive they aren't nearly as profound as the set-ups suggest.
Best thing: Nick Nolte's curious cameo.
Worst thing: The glaring holes in logic.
See it with: Your parents: they will appreciate the ageing cast.
