Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely the worst movie.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I am a fan of ballet, I find it to be the most beautiful form of dance in history, and The Company is a film I have been wanting to see for quite some time, in Australia the film hasn't been available for some time but it recently got a DVD release so I snapped it up quickly. The dance sequences are the best thing about this movie, I probably would have enjoyed it mire if there was a full film of just dance scenes, the scenes that aren't complimented very well by the actual storyline or lack thereof. The almost non existent plot bothered me a bit, at first it seemed as though it was headed somewhere but I quickly realized that this wasn't the case, it seemed to me that there was nothing to work towards, and at the end of the movie it just instills this belief further because the end is just so sudden and just nothing. Another thing I thought was wrong was the boring relationship between Neve and James, it wasn't interesting in the least.With the exception of the plot problems this movie is great, the score is fantastic, the acting is wonderful, Neve Campbell is stellar in a role that she obviously felt very passionate about, Malcolm McDowell does the whole high strung ballet boss to perfection, and Mr Franco is unnecessary but pretty enough to look at.If you're interested in ballet at all this movie is one to see because you really just observe how the company works in a kind of fly on the wall kind of way. For me it was just easy to watch but a tad frustrating due to the lacking plot but don't let that stop you, it's no Centre Stage but it is still worth watching. Check it out.

Watching "The Company", I was suddenly aware of how stylistically similar Robert Altman is to one of my other favourite directors, Frederick Wiseman.Wiseman is a documentary filmmaker who typically picks a space or institution as his subject (a high school, a town, a military base, a zoo, a hospital etc), and then sets about filming human beings as they work and interact within these self-contained environments. Wiseman improvises, shoots without a screenplay, is subtly satirical, hires small crews and seems content to simply observe people as they go about their various day-to-day routines within their chosen fields or environments. Altman operates in a similar way. With "The Company" he sets his sights on the Joffrey Ballet Group of Chicago, voyeuristically observing its inhabitants over the course of several months. There is seemingly no overriding narrative, no overt plot, only a series of connective strands, each character existing as a pebble in a vast mosaic.What separates Altman from Wiseman, however, is Altman's acute awareness of genre. Altman enjoys subverting expectations, turning war on its head in "MASH", noir with "The Long Goodbye", deconstructed "Bonnie and Clyde" with "Thieves Like Us", ripped apart the western with "Buffalo Bill" and "Mrs Miller", mauled the murder mystery with "Gosford Park" and pretty much invented the anti-narrative multi-character mosaic (badly imitated by Paul Haggis, Lawrence Kasdan, John Sayles, and Paul Thomas Anderson) with films like "Nashville" or "Short Cuts".With "The Company", the narrative being deconstructed is your usual "star is born" tale ("Showgirls", "Red Shoes", "All About Eve", "Black Swan" etc). Actress Neve Campbell, at first glance, appears to be the heart of the picture. She plays your typical lowly artist stereotype who works hard, hoping for that lucky break which will lead to her starring in the film's final grand performance.But as the film progresses, Altman will continually undermine the genres usual obstacles and clichés. Watch how he sets up Neve's final performance, only to have her fall and be pulled out of the show. Watch how he sets up Neve's argument with her lover, only to have them peacefully fall asleep together. Watch how he sets up a pushy mother who is consistently unable to get a word in. Watch how he sets up a thunderstorm which has no effect on the performance. Watch how he sets up the vindictive father of one ballet dancer, only to have the guy consistently brushed off.Time and time again, conflicts are set up and then undermined. This notion of avoiding conflict, of dodging the act of telling a story, is epitomised in the film by Mr A, the manager of the ballet company (and an obvious stand in for Robert Altman), who leaves the room whenever someone wishes to argue with him. The result is that, not only are conventions subverted, but the very act of storytelling seems avoided.One thus recalls the climax to Altman's "Thieves Like Us", a crime movie which likewise subverted gangster clichés. That film promised us your typical last act, gangster bloodbath, our bank robber heroes dying in slow motion, a hail of bullets peppering their bloody bodies. But when his climactic shootout occurs, Altman pulls the rug out from under our feet and cuts away. In this simple scene, we see how Altman operates. What is usually denied is given precedence; the spaces omitted in "normal" films are given, by Altman, room to breathe.For better or worse, reversals like this - both obvious and subtle - take place constantly throughout Altman's filmography. Enjoyment of his films thus depends on the audience having an intimate awareness of what is being subverted, deconstructed or undermined, which is perhaps why Altman is so despised. Those who like his films tend to like him for what he doesn't do. What he sets up and then rejects.Beyond all this you have the typical self-referential Altman layer. The act of preparing, improvising and putting on a show (ballet), is mirrored to the act of preparing, improvising and creating Altman's film. And of course you need a creative force in both worlds, personified by Mr A (Malcolm McDowell) in the film, Altman's doppelgänger. Such a self-referential layer is typical of Altman. "Nashville", "Buffalo Bill", "MASH", "Gosford Park", "Prairie Home Companion", "The Player", "Cookie's Fortune" etc, all revolve around large groups of people getting together and putting on a performance. What's fresh about "The Company" is the sheer level of restraint.8/10 - Worth two viewings.

This movie is without a doubt the worst movie I've ever seen. It had no visible plot whatsoever. I didn't see anything that even looked like plot lines. It was the most pointless thing that has ever graced the planet. The people didn't speak loudly enough and we had to turn up the volume of the TV even though it made the music far too loud. It could have been done better. The movies 'Centerstage', 'Step Up', and 'Save the Last Dance' are much better depictions of our world. Being a dancer myself, I thought the choreography for this movie could have been a lot better. The dancing was utterly boring. I didn't even bother to watch the whole movie. I was falling asleep the whole time. In my opinion Neve Campbell doesn't measure up to real professionals like Gillian Murphy or Nina Ananiashvili. She's not even close. In conclusion, I think this movie was very poorly made and I would like to see it remade with better sound quality, better acting and better dancing, but above all, there needs to be a better plot because the current one is horrible!!!

Without a doubt, this is the worst movie I've ever seen. I was busing across central Mexico in hot pursuit of uniformed Mexican schoolgirls and the escaped Boris Yeltsin and was forced to watch this awful movie. My traveling companion, Carlos Caliente, who is an avid fan of the ballet and tights in general, expressed his disgust early on in this movie, noting its lack of character development, plot, Neve Campbell's exposed melons, and overall shittyness. After the ridiculous final Olmec-head-eating-dancers scene we thought the pain was over. To our horror, the movie was replayed again! Blast! I would have rather ridden a chicken bus to Hell than be damned to such a fate as seeing the Company twice in one sitting. My suggestion to you, amigos, is 1) promptly punch in the face anyone you ever meet who even remotely liked this film, 2) never take anything but the first class executive bus, and 3) always buy your bras and panties from large piles in the streets of Mexico, D.F. BORIS, I WILL FIND YOU YET!!!