The Company

Director: Robert Altman
Year Released: 2003
Rating: 1.5

Overview of a dance company from Chicago and the pressures of putting on a perfect show; it also suggests the cruelty of the business, and what happens if one of the dancers is a step behind or injures him/herself (he/she's ushered off stage and someone else immediately takes his/her place). Sadly, there isn't much shown about the dancers themselves - we're given a very brief glimpse into the life of Neve Campbell's character but little else - and in an attempt to play neutral to the proceedings, Altman sticks his camera far away from the stage so it's like we're watching a copy of the performance on home video (which is doubly distant if you're watching Altman's film on home video). Unlike Short Cuts or M.A.S.H., where a sizeable number of people drift in and out of frame and still developed equally, the dancers are largely indistinguishable from the lighting equipment.