{image1}"Dancers do the impossible. And yet we all want to be them. They are that beautiful, that vulnerable, and that expressive. They are the essence of what we mean by ethereal."
And so begins Robert Altman's director's statement for his new slice-of-life film, "The Company," which stars Neve Campbell (who co-wrote the story with screenwriter Barbara Turner), Malcolm McDowell and Chicago's Joffrey Ballet Company.
If Altman was trying to capture ethereal, as it is primarily defined by Dictionary.com -- that is, "Characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible," -- then the director of "Gosford Park," "Nashville," "Short Cuts" and "The Player" has succeeded.
Another definition of the word, however, is "Highly refined; delicate," and Altman manages to pull that off, too.
The fetching Campbell is Ry, a member of Chicago's acclaimed Joffrey Ballet, headed by Alberto Antonelli (McDowell).
The many dance scenes are dazzling, with the film's opener being the most alluring as the company uses ribbons that shimmer like lasers while the dancers not only create geometric patterns but entwine themselves in those shapes. Complex and inventive, this scene sets the bar high.
The problem is, whenever the company isn't dancing, we wish it would be. Ry, who has just broken up a relationship with another dancer as the film opens, finds new love. But neither relationship is even mildly explored beyond the obvious fact that their busy career lives are infringing on their romance. One especially sensitive dancer is managed by his overbearing and argumentative father, but we don't learn much else about them, either.
{image2}McDowell is astonishingly disappointing as the one-dimensional Antonelli, who wears a constant smile and feigns love for each of the dancers -- all the while with a ubiquitous, twee scarf tossed over his right shoulder -- but is really a power-mad bureaucrat with little apparent knowledge of dance or even of what he wants (he changes his mind about dance pieces more often than he changes that damned scarf!). Almost no one dares to contradict him, however, as he holds their dance futures in his hands.
While we've seen McDowell bring passion and fire to the screen, he virtually sleepwalks through this film. He has no real dialogue to speak of (pun intended), but rather a series of quips that are, apparently, aimed at showing us what a no-nonsense director he is.
In the end, one realizes that there's barely any storyline, which might be OK except that there's also hardly a character with which we can muster even the slightest sympathy. Insubstantial and light, at best.
However, the Joffrey's dance scenes are so wonderful and the music -- including both a lovely cello and piano reading of "My Funny Valentine" and Elvis Costello's fine version of the same song -- so charming, it's hard to deem the film worthless.
See it for the dance and feel free to head out to the lobby for another box of Sno-Caps inbetween.
"The Company" opens Fri., Feb. 13 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
