Even for those who would seem to share Robert Redford's political leanings, his last few films have to feel like one giant, boring civics lesson. At 76 years of age, Redford is one of the lucky ones. After a legendary career in which he's accomplished pretty much everything, he can now write his own ticket. What he's chosen to do with that sort of freedom is tell politically-charged stories that lately have sounded more like lectures. His latest film, The Company You Keep, still has a lot to say but can stand on its own as a taut, competent thriller.
Calling in every favor and emptying his Rolodex, Redford has assembled the sort of cast only someone of his stature can attract. They go a long way in lifting the story through the occasional dry spell. Redford's focus is the ineptitude and moral bankruptcy of the working press, especially in their zeal to destroy lives for the sake of a good headline. In this case the victims are former members of the 1970s radicals, the Weather Underground, who were responsible for acts of domestic terrorism, largely in protest of the Vietnam War. When the film begins, we see a normal housewife named Susan Solarz (Susan Sarandon), going out for gas and getting picked up by the FBI in short order. Turns out she was a member of the extremist left-wing organization in her youth, who along with a few others is responsible for the death of a bank guard.
Shia LaBeouf is Ben Shepard, a reporter for a struggling Albany newspaper, who takes a special interest in the Solarz's story. While investigating her, it draws him to progressive lawyer Ben Grant (Redford), a single dad raising a daughter after his wife's recent death. After a bit of digging, and a few contentious meetings, Shepard discovers that Grant's connections to the Weather Underground run deeper than suspected. Smoked out of his hiding place, Grant goes on the run, but not in the way anyone would expect. He seems to be looking for something, or someone, in particular.
The script by Lem Dobbs is surprisingly clever, using a number of well-crafted characters to mask the expected politicking. As Grant races across the country, he contacts a number of his old colleagues who fall completely across the liberal spectrum. Some maintain the same fire and passion from their hay days, while others' attitudes have significantly cooled. Nick Nolte plays one high-ranking member, and it's just a pleasure to watch him and Redford together on screen. The great character actor Richard Jenkins turns up as a Bill Ayers-type who has gone from radical revolutionary to beloved college professor, quietly spreading his message to his eager pupils. Julie Christie, Brit Marling, Anna Kendrick, Terrence Howard, Chris Cooper, Brendan Gleeson, and many more give each role an added layer of gravitas.
Redford ladles on a heaping helping of ire towards the media, and the bashing does get a bit excessive. There's also the tendency, partially out of necessity, to downplay the violent actions committed by the Weather Underground, sweeping away their crimes with a quick dose of liberal idealism. But Redford and Dobbs never lose sight of the human impacts, and the weight of carrying decades' worth of guilt and failure. None of these characters are being let off the hook easy.
After an incredibly smart, engrossing build up, the final act proves to be a disappointment. There's little payoff to all of Grant's scurrying around the country, and instead what we get is a lot of the lecturing that had been avoided up to that point. Plus there's at least one completely unnecessary plot twist that is far-fetched at the least, ridiculous at the most. Still, it's good to see Redford making movies that are designed to inform as well as entertain.
