The Company Details

Director Robert Altman's latest look at a microcosmic community is more an interested glance than his usual penetrating glare. Yet it's still another seductive spellbinder, with Altman expertly choreographing his film to match the unique concepts of the Joffrey Ballet, the famous Chicago troupe it revolves around. Conceived by, co-produced by and starring Neve Campbell, this jettisons soap-opera histrionics for revealing glimpses of the sheer craft and commitment involved. It focuses on the progress of a promising ingénue (Campbell) from chorus line to featured ballerina, under the watchful eye of mercurial company director Malcolm McDowell. A waitress by night, she embarks on an affair with chef James Franco as casting begins on the avant-garde fairy-tale ballet “The Blue Snake”. Best known as queen of the Scream films, Campbell acquits herself surprisingly well in the “My Funny Valentine” pas de deux and the film is inter-cut with enthralling selections from signature Joffrey works such as “Tensile Involvement” and “White Widow”.

Even more than in impressionist gems such as California Split and Nashville, story is not what this latest [2003]... read more on Time Out