Movie Reviews: Is 'The Company You Keep' One of the Best Films of 2013?

The "The Company You Keep" is playing in several theaters in Gwinnett: AMC Sugarloaf Mills and AMC Colonial 18, both in Lawrenceville; Carmike 12 in Snellville; and Regal Mall of Georgia in Buford.

For more local movie ideas, use the Moviefone link at the top of this file. 

When Sharon Solarz, a former member of the radical Weather Underground (Susan Sarandon) is arrested, her capture sets in motion a twisted series of events.

Nick Sloan (Robert Redford), a clean cut, upright attorney in Albany, refuses to take her case, which leads to an ambitious young newspaper (yes, they do still exist) reporter, Ben Shepard (Shia LaBoeuf), outing Sloan as another member of the Weather Underground wanted for killing a guard during a bank robbery.

To clear his name, Sloan must reach his former lover Mimi (Julie Christie) before the FBI nabs him. 

Here's what the critics are saying:

There is enough plot here to stuff a trilogy, but the film never finds itself. It doesn’t powerfully condemn or condone the ’70s radicals, and fails to relate their actions to today’s anarchic, politically polarized world. Like Redford’s recent directorial efforts “Lions for Lambs” and “The Conspirator,” this is a didactic history lesson with a distinct whiff of chalk and a fusty, lecture-hall air. Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Adapted from the novel by Neil Gordon, the brilliant screenplay by Lem Dobbs illuminates the plight of the cub reporter in a new age of journalism, updates the latest tracking strategies of the FBI and, in one affecting prison interview between Mr. LaBeouf and Ms. Sarandon, offers some earnest insight into the validity of the noble but misdirected romantic idealism of the ’70s radicals. From archival footage of actual TV news coverage of the Weathermen’s attacks, to a dazzling display of perfect performances, to the complex emotional relationships that result in guilt by association, the disparate elements in The Company You Keep are robustly collated by the keen, well-crafted direction of a master filmmaker at the top of his form. It’s only April, but this is one of the best films of 2013. Rex Reed, New York Observer

This is but one of the distractions in “The Company You Keep” that kept me at a distance. Despite Redford’s sure-handed (but typically stolid) direction, an intriguing premise and a cast filled with top-line talent both veteran and relatively new, nearly every scene had me asking questions about what just transpired when I should have been absorbing what was happening next. Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun Times

But there is lots of fine work going on. Christie, as a key member of the Weather Underground who has spent the ensuing decades changing names and homes with unerring precision, is captivatingly inscrutable. Nolte, as a croaking construction boss (with a secret past, of course), is suitably wry and wrinkled. Sarandon bows out early, but she's perfect (maybe too perfect?) as a housewife with a covert, and criminal, C.V. Stephen Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

"The Company You Keep" works largely thanks to Lem Dobbs' thoughtful script (from Neil Gordon's 2003 novel), though Redford's understated directing helps. The film offers a lot to chew on for boomers -- and for aging punks and indie-rockers -- who may still be wondering whether they made a separate peace with The System or simply gave up the fight. Rafer Guzman, Newsday 

"The Company You Keep" is rated R and runs 121 minutes.