The plot is simple, an underground former radical, now father, (Robert Redford), is smoked out and on the run, meeting with former comrades. Does he want to escape, or does he want to clear his name? Both an investigative reporter and the FBI are chasing him.
However, weaved into this clever plot is the intellectual substance of the movie - how do we understand, (and judge) today, former armed Weather Underground members who fought against the U.S. war on Vietnam?
They took armed action after non-violent protests failed to stop the war. They are fugitives after robbing a bank and consequently killing a bank guard. They too, also failed to end the war.
"We made mistakes, but we were right." says one arrested radical (Susan Sarandon).
The elderly revolutionaries now with kids, honestly debate their choices and the times. The "establishment" won, and gets to write the history of those years.
These white revolutionaries were terrorists, or were they freedom fighters? "The Company You Keep" encourages us to judge these revolutionaries with an open mind - something that seems downright subversive in today's America.
However, weaved into this clever plot is the intellectual substance of the movie - how do we understand, (and judge) today, former armed Weather Underground members who fought against the U.S. war on Vietnam?
They took armed action after non-violent protests failed to stop the war. They are fugitives after robbing a bank and consequently killing a bank guard. They too, also failed to end the war.
"We made mistakes, but we were right." says one arrested radical (Susan Sarandon).
The elderly revolutionaries now with kids, honestly debate their choices and the times. The "establishment" won, and gets to write the history of those years.
These white revolutionaries were terrorists, or were they freedom fighters? "The Company You Keep" encourages us to judge these revolutionaries with an open mind - something that seems downright subversive in today's America.