While this is a perfectly fine film, I would only recommend it to people who are either a) already familiar with Robert Altman’s essential films (MASH, McCabe & Mrs Miller, 3 Women, etc.), or b) people who have an interest in ballet.

The Company is a sort of slice-of-life film about a Chicago ballet company. Half of it is the actual ballet performances, and half a look at the lives,relationships, and inner workings of a ballet company. This latter part has almost no real storyline, it just sort of weaves in and out of the lives of the characters, with no dramatic arc. It was co-written by Neve Campbell, and I think that the go-nowhere plot of the film caused some viewers to think that it was because Neve Campbell was not a very good writer who should just stick to acting. But while Ms. Campbell might not be a world-class writer, the script works fine for this film, just giving the viewer little nibbles of these characters. It is interesting how Altman’s signature style works with this sort of thing. In many of his best films, Altman’s wandering camera and off-screen/several people talking at once dialogue works to tell a story or develop a character. But here, it just seems to sort of revel in the ordinariness of what is going on.

The dancing/ballet itself is very beautiful. Even if you do not like go-nowhere type plots, if you enjoy dancing the film is still worth a watch. I myself have never been that interested in dance, but it was so beautiful here that I didn’t find myself wishing it would just get back to the “plot”, and actually enjoyed it.

Neve Campbell and Malcolm McDowell are fine with what they are given, and Campbell is a wonderful dancer. I guess James Franco is OK, but it seems that the majority of what little screen time he has is him cooking or sleeping.

8/10