The Company review

Hollywood is littered with the carcasses of pet projects that have been authorised when a star is at their peak, and which usually unsuccessfully come to fruition once the star is falling down the fame ladder once again. The idea of Neve Campbell writing, producing and starring in her own movie about a ballet company would seem to fit the bill, as Campbell has been little seen since appearing in the first two Scream films. But, thanks to the master choice of Robert Altman as a director, this is an enchanting, exquisitely shot and, more often than not, a very interesting film.

It's a little known fact that Campbell attended the National Ballet School of Canada from the age of nine to fourteen, and despite becoming a subsequent film star, her love of the art never faded. She persuaded Chicago's renowned Joffrey Ballet Company to allow her to film there, and the result is reminiscent of Alan Parker's Fame movie - a frank depiction of the struggles of life as a modern day ballet dancer.

Altman's idiosyncratic style perfectly sets the tone of the film. There isn't really a traditional narrative leading up to a jarring climax: instead the film plays almost like a documentary charting the ups and downs of a couple of years at the school. Intermittently we follow pushy parents desperate for their kids to have bigger roles, prima donnas in both senses of the word, preposterously pompous dance teachers and penniless students forced to sleep fifteen to an apartment in order to achieve their dreams.

Many of the dance segments serve as the film's centrepieces, from the stunning opening involving a multitude of ribbons, to some dances solely involving Campbell and her partner (and yes, she really can dance), to a rousingly spectacular finale. Altman captures them beautifully and is not afraid to show the internal drama going through each dancer's head, such as when Campbell's outdoor pas de double is nearly ruined by a storm, or when one of the lead dancers shatters her ankle just before a performance.

Despite being the nominal star, Campbell generously lets many of the other dancers share the limelight, and there is a terrifically robust performance from Malcolm McDowell as Mr A, the somewhat fearsome and slightly scatterbrained leader of the company, whose method of finishing meetings is simply to abruptly walk out of them.

You don't have to be a ballet fan to enjoy The Company, and this is perhaps the film's greatest strength. It offers a fascinating and in-depth view into a mysterious world and Ms Campbell should be suitably proud.