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List Price: $9.95 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 16565
Released: June 1, 2004 |
| Our Price: $4.30 |
| Used Price: $1.80 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A woman on the verge of becoming principal dancer in her ballet company has trouble balancing the demands of her career with her personal life.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 3-JAN-2006
Media Type: DVD
Description of The Company:
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
The Company Reviews:
so what is the problem about the plot? 
2009-08-26 - "Plot-oriented prose still exists and will continue to exist," posits Shklovsky, writing in 1926, "but it has been consigned to the attic."
The world moves on, folks. This movie is about process. You see all the people playing their roles. What dancers face as they try to make a living, even if they are in top shelf companies. What administrators face as they juggle budgets with artistic goals. You learn about what goes on in dance rehearsals and then find out what the result is on stage for the audience. The narrative is not important.
The dance performances are stunning.
Do we need the nonsense that we get in Rocky, phony stories about overcoming phony situations?
This is Altman. He has been doing this since he became known with M*A*S*H.
If you have trouble with this concept, then watch the director's commentary and you might get an idea to the method of Altman's madness.
The Company
2009-02-05 - This movie is for someone whom enjoys Dance.
It is full of back stage happenings of what Dance is all about.
The hardships of being a dancer,sweat,endurance,laughter, pain,
and in the end great rewards.Some parts of the movie shows jealousy,
envy,as when life has passed you by,motto: Should have been,or could
have been desires.I enjoyed this movie very much.That,s why I give
this movie 5 stars.
The Company
2009-01-27 - I had no problems purchasing the DVD, it was shipped promptly and arrived in the condition the seller said it would be in.
Interesting, But Not For Everyone 
2009-01-26 - I will start by saying this is an interesting and well done movie. But it is not for everyone, and even the people it IS for may have to watch it two or three times to fully understand it.
The most simple way I can put this is that generally speaking, movies and books tend to revolve around certain characters. In this movie, the characters take a back seat to the general happenings at a Dance Company. James Franco may be known as the likable and sympathetic eventual villain in "Spiderman," but he hardly has anything to say in this film. He's just there to be Neve Campbell's boyfriend. Malcolm McDowell has a fair amount of screen time as the frantic, but good at his job company director. And to be fully honest, he makes the most of his screen time: "Just so you know, you guys didn't help me one bit."
More than anything, the movie shows how the dancers suffer difficult lives for the sake of an hour here and there on stage. It also shows how a simple injury can throw hours, weeks, months of practice down the drain.
Another character worth mentioning is the sympathetic Debby. She is a 43 year old woman who has dedicated her life to the dance, but as much as she loved it, she feels it isn't good for her to be a part of it now: "It's not that I don't want to be in it, but at this point, it looks lime I'm working at it." We also see through her that once somebody has learned a certain way, there comes a point where you just can't tell them to do it differently now.
In a way, this is kind of like the ballet version of "Saturday Night Fever." (Though without the several things that made "Saturday Night Fever" an R rated movie.) It is certainly an interesting watch, but again, it's not for everyone.
you CAN'T beat this for $10!!!
2009-01-23 - Never mind the achingly predictable back-stage cliches and (pace Altman fans) the fact that Altman never got the magic back after Nashville: 5 stars because this dvd format includes an extra of extended dance sequences--it's like a little gift-pack of Joffrey rep and a worthy addition to any library of dance video.
