Company You Keep, The (Blu-ray) (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Audio Featurette-Behind The Scenes Interviews-Cast Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	121:26
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Robert Redford
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Robert Redford Susan Sarandon Shia LaBeouf Julie Christie Sam Elliott Brendan Gleeson Nick Nolte Chris Cooper
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    In the late 1960s and early 1970s the US was in turmoil driven by political upheaval driven by the Vietnam War, racial equality and more. In this period there was significant social unrest and protests which sometimes escalated into violence, either by the protesters or by the system against the protesters. One protest group that extended into more violent confrontation was the Weathermen or Weather Underground. In 2002 a documentary on this group was released and was reviewed on this site  here.

    This movie, The Company You Keep tells a fictionalised story based on this real life group adapted from a novel by Neil Gordon. The story told here is not focused on the group at the time of its activity but rather the effect of being a member of such a group on the members' later lives. The film is set in the modern day and kicks off with one ex-member, Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) deciding that she can no longer keep hiding from authorities after 30 years of living with an assumed identity. She reveals herself and gets arrested while filling up her car with petrol. This attracts the attention of ambitious young newspaper man, Ben Shepherd (Shia LaBeouf). He writes for a small local paper in upstate New York. He investigates trying to work out why she has only just turned herself in after so long and trying to find out who any of her fellow group members are. When local civil rights lawyer, Jim Grant (Robert Redford) turns down a chance to defend her, Ben smells a rat and wants to investigate why he would not want the case. Jim was also a member of the Weather Underground in the 1960s and has also been living under an assumed name. His name is actually Nick Sloan and both he and Solarz are wanted in relation to a robbery which went wrong in the 1960s resulting in the death of a security guard. Nick must now go on the run to protect his identity and his daughter but there seems to be more going on than just an old criminal trying to evade capture.

    This film was directed by Robert Redford and is quite reminiscent of some of the films he starred in during the 1970s such as Three Days of the Condor or All The Presidents Men, in both style and subject matter. The cast is incredible for what is a small independent movie including those I have already mentioned plus Julie Christie, Sam Elliott, Brendan Gleeson, Stanley Tucci, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick & Brit Marling. The acting is of high quality as you would expect from this cast and the writing and direction produces a quality viewing experience. Susan Sarandon is probably the pick of the bunch. This is a taut political thriller which is intriguing and interesting. It is intelligent and does not rely on action scenes for entertainment value as many thrillers do these days. According to the cast interviews Redford wanted the cast to improvise rather than stick completely to the written script which the cast seems to have enjoyed. The film was shot in Vancouver filling in for the New England area of the US.

    My only criticism of this film would be that the ending was somewhat telegraphed and a little obvious, however, that does not mean the ride is not worth going on for those who enjoy intelligent, old fashioned style thrillers, as I do.

    Recommended.

Video

    The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p HD encoded using the AVC codec.

    Details and clarity were somewhat variable in this transfer especially for a Blu-ray. It was never bad however some scenes were very detailed whereas others seems to go a little soft. This is probably more of a function of the source material than the transfer I would guess. Shadow detail was very good.

    The colour is very good if a little dull with only a little chroma noise in some scenes to mar the presentation.

    In artefact terms, there was a little motion blur at times and some mild film grain.

    There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good perfectly suited to a film of this nature.

    This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1 as the only audio option.

    Dialogue is mostly clear and easy to understand throughout, however subtitles would have been useful especially for Nick Nolte.

    The score is suitably tense and atmospheric.

    The surround speakers provided significant ambiance and atmosphere plus some other directional effects such as helicopters.

    The subwoofer was used to support the music and for some occasional mild effects.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu includes scenes and music.

Behind the Scenes (17:52)

Cast Interviews

Theatrical Trailer (2:10) 

Madman Trailers

    The US Region A version of this Blu-ray contains a different set of extras which sound more comprehensive but the difference is not great.

    The video quality is good but not up to the best of Blu-ray.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall