‘The Company You Keep’: Redford brings an interesting twist to the 60’s movement
Review by John Delia, Jr.
During the 60’s a group of students decided to fight back against the US Government’s reaction to the protesting against the Vietnam War. The shootings that took place at Kent State and Jackson State made these protest groups aggressive against the government, especially the one called “The Weather Menâ€. After some bombing attempts on government buildings, four of the protestors from “The Weather Men†group rob a bank that results in the killing of a bank guard.
After thirty years, three of the protestors are still at large. Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) decides to come out of hiding in an attempt to out the other two and is captured by the FBI. When the news hits the stands noted lawyer Jim Grant (Robert Redford) is asked to help defend Sharon at the request of mutual friend Billy Cusimano (Stephen Root) in hopes to get her a fair trial.
From a small newspaper in Albany called the “Albany Sun Starâ€, Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) is instructed to research this lead to see if he can uncover a big story and to help save the bankrupted newspaper. After interviewing lawyer Jim Grant, Ben uncovers that there is more to his story and his involvement with Sharon Solarz. Ben begins to uncover a lot of hidden secrets that lead to many co-conspirators and a long list of information that can be discovered. This brings Jim under fire by the FBI and he goes New York to try to prove his innocence.
With FBI Agents Cornelius (Terrence Howard) and Diana (Anna Kendrick), Ben’s ex-girlfriend, following his every move, they are getting closer to finding Jim. The movie gets very tense as with every turn, more and more information is discovered putting Jim in jeopardy of revealing the third person who committed the crime.
Director Robert Redford performs an excellent job pulling off this fact based tale and makes it seem believable. He does reveal some of the plot a little too early, but it doesn’t affect the ending at all. Some of the story seems to have not been resolved at the end of the film, but maybe it was intended that way. The special effects cinematography, acting and storyline are solid and enjoyable to watch.
This was an intriguing film that kept me wondering if this could have actually happened. The details were well thought out and placed well throughout the film, except for a few things being leaked a little early in the film that really had little meaning at the end.  It’s still a worth film seeing. I especially enjoyed how the reporter did all the work, while the FBI followed his lead. It gave a little comedy to the story.
Final Grade: I give this a B, for its great job on the original storyline and investigative aspects of the film
John Delia, Jr. writes for the Examiner in Tampa, Florida