Company You Keep, The (Blu-ray Review)

11 Aug, 2013 By: Ashley Ratcliff

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Street 8/13/13
Sony Pictures
Drama
Box Office $5.1 million
$30.99 DVD, $35.99 Blu-ray
Rated ‘R’ for language.
Stars Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Terrence Howard, Stanley Tucci, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick, Sam Elliott.

The past catches up to Nick Sloan (Robert Redford) when the FBI nabs his Weather Underground cohort Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) for the death of an innocent bystander during a bank robbery in the ’70s.

The national news event catches the attention of resourceful Albany Sun Times reporter Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf), who is hell-bent on getting the scoop. After some sleuthing, he discovers that fugitive Sloan has successfully reintegrated into society as attorney Jim Grant after the high-profile robbery. While the discovery is a huge notch in Shepard’s journalistic belt, it sends Sloan back on the run from the FBI — leaving his tween daughter (Jackie Evancho) in the care of his brother — and on a quest to clear his name.

However, doing so requires his former Weather Underground associate, Mimi Lurie (Julie Christie), fessing up to her part in the robbery — and to say that she likes her freedom would be an understatement.

The Company You Keep presents a compelling, suspenseful story executed by a stellar cast that includes Stanley Tucci, Richard Jenkins, Sam Elliott, Terrence Howard, Nick Nolte, Anna Kendrick, Brendan Gleeson and Chris Cooper. Brit Marling is quite the darling on camera as the daughter of the ex-police chief and the object of Shepard’s affection.

It’s interesting to watch the events unfold and hear the one-time activists’ diverse perspectives on the criminal act that forever altered their lives. In the end, the intrepid reporter learns an important lesson about exposing secrets, as viewers are let in on a major one.

Redford pulls double duty as the director and lead, and gives wonderful insights into his approach in two featurettes on the Blu-ray Disc. Co-stars LaBeouf, Marling, Christie and Sarandon also chime in on the historical framework of the film, the script and preparing for their roles.

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