With the complete cooperation of the joffrey ballet of chicago: robert altman follows the stories of the dancers whose professional & personal lives grow impossibly close. Neve campbell plays a gifted company member on the verge of becoming a principal dancer at a fictional chicago troupe. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 01/24/2006 Starring: Neve Campbell James Franco Run time: 112 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Robert Atlman
Amazon.com
An elegant portrait of artists in the act of creation, The Company is also a ballet lover's dream come true. While this intimate study of the onstage and backstage world of dance may appeal to a limited audience with its casually plotless structure, it's still a unique, accomplished film by one of the greatest American directors. As critic Roger Ebert observed, Robert Altman's film is also an autobiographical reflection of Altman's working methods, in which an ensemble (in this case, Neve Campbell and the dancers of Chicago's celebrated Joffrey Ballet Company) is casually choreographed in an atmosphere of spontaneity that's both dramatically charged and effortlessly authentic. A classically trained dancer, Campbell also coproduced the film, and stars with James Franco (as her easygoing boyfriend) and Malcolm McDowell as the Joffrey's delightfully diva-like artistic director. Featuring stellar performances of the Joffrey's best-known dances, this soothing, hypnotic film is devoid of conventional dialogue, and yet Barbara Turner's screenplay provides a precise roadmap for Altman's masterful choreography of dance, music, and human interaction. --Jeff Shannon
