The Company You Keep (2013)

Great Film overall

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Mr. Redford had a message here that has never been heard.

In the 1960's to early 1970's, the United States was involved in an unjustified and un-winnable war which was taking the lives of young Americans, not to mention the lives of many innocent villagers in a land thousands of miles from America, Vietnam. Groups of young people, mostly of college age, took to the streets of America to protest, showing their disillusionment with their government in marches on Washington D.C., flag burnings in Berkeley, California, and demonstrations in Kent State, Michigan. Some ended tragically. While most of the protest groups were non-violent, mirroring the demonstrations by Martin Luther King, Jr., a few groups crossed the line into using violence and intimidation to make their points. One such group was the so-called "Weathermen" or Weather Underground whose goals were not exclusively about fostering political change and shifting social consciousness. Their goals were about overthrowing the United States government.Fast-forward to the early 21st century. James Grant (Robert Redford who also directs) is a small-town lawyer in upstate New York near Albany with a beautiful daughter. A friend of his from the days of protest, Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) has been arrested for complicity in crimes enacted by the Weather Underground in the 1970's. A stalwart and ambitious young reporter, Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf), begins his own investigation and reveals that James Grant is a false identity. He's actually Nick Sloan, a former Weatherman who has been eluding authorities for over 30 years in connection with a bank robbery gone wrong which resulted in the death of a bank security guard. To elude arrest, trial and possible prison, Sloan created the false identity of Grant in the early 1980's and set up a legitimate law practice.Grant/Sloan then enacts a highly sophisticated plan. First he compels his estranged brother Daniel Sloan (Chris Cooper) to take temporary custody of his daughter. Then, using fake ID's and disposable phones, he leaves New York and travels to the upper mid-west to Michigan. Two other parties are hot on his trail: Shepard the young reporter, and the FBI. After obtaining the information from Shepherd's reporting, the FBI is now after Sloan as well, desperately trying to resolve a pending case over 30 years old.The question the film poses: Is Sloan guilty of having been involved with the bank heist or is there some other reason he's on the run? The answers appear to be in Michigan. Shepherd follows Sloan there and meets the locals who seem reluctant to tell him what they know, most strikingly Henry Osborne, a former police chief who originally investigated the robbery. He also meets Osborne's daughter who tells the reporter things which help him piece together the puzzle. Sloan and Shepherd then are trying to find one Mimi Lurie who may have the answers to the puzzle.A very good film about how Baby-Boomer radicalism didn't die in the 1960's and 1970's but rears its head in the 21st century. Redford is convincing as the mild-mannered-attorney-turned-fugitive. LaBeouf holds his own as the ambitious but naïve journalist who won't quit. As the film progresses we get the sense there's an underlying theme about young people's idealism. Shepherd meets Sloan early in the film before he's on the run, and even says of the young reporter he might have been the type to join the movement back in the 1960's. Shepherd represents the idealism of young people in the 21st century although he can only influence change through online articles. The protest marches are long over. The question is not just about the idealism of young people, be they Boomers, Generation X'ers, or Millennium's, but what they did can also say something about who they are. The question about Sloan's involvement with violent acts poses the question about whether or not he was as bad as the system he was fighting.

I missed this when it first came out. It never made the theaters in my area. It wasn't well-publicized so I passed over it at the video store. I wish someone would have recommended this to me. This is better than you would expect. The cast is UNBELIEVABLE!! So many good actors who have aged and fit the characters of 1970s underground terrorists perfectly. Robert Redford's directing has always had a bit of heavy drama that isn't necessary, but for the most part this is a very good political thriller in the vein of "All The President's Men" set in modern times.Basic plot: Redford is a well-respected, recently-widowed attorney in New York with a young daughter. A woman is arrested in a nearby town for a bank robbery from 30 years prior and went underground with several other players from that era - including Redford. Suddenly, a tenacious young reporter starts tracking the story and ends up opening a can of worms where domino upon domino falls pushing Redford into hiding and ultimately into revealing a past he might wish had stayed hidden.The acting is first-rate by all involved. I think Redford is really too old to have an 11yo daughter, but that is minor in the scope of the story. The political cat-and-mouse game between the underground members who can't even trust each other at this late date, the dogged FBI who have never stopped looking for them, and the ever-present reporter create a whirlwind of intrigue of "did he/didn't he" until all the pieces start falling into place. The story bobs and weaves through several venues and gives a believability to how difficult it must be to live on the lamb for most of your life. Once you create a family and want to settle down into normalcy must be such a weight and would be heartbreaking to see it blown apart for past transgressions.Kudos to all the actors who were willing to go on screen past their glory years. It added an element of realism we don't get much anymore in today's glamourized Hollywood blockbusters with all the pretty people. This is one I am very thankful I picked up. I will be recommending it to my friends as a good story to keep your interest until the very end. It is well worth your time.

Based on the true story of the radical Weather Underground political movement in the US who protested against the Viet Nam war and political establishment.In 1981 a bank raid by former members of the group resulted in a security guard being shot dead. The film looks at the lives of some of the former members who have hidden their past. A local reporter investigates Jim Grant (Robert Redford) and exposes his double life. Grant leaves his daughter and goes into hiding to clear his name, which he does enabling him to return to a normal life, reunited with his daughter.A low key but gripping thriller that focuses on interesting, strong characters. A well made, convincing film that reveals a lesser known aspect of American history.