Casey Affleck may have won his acting Oscar for “Manchester By The Sea,” but for many his performance as the titular rabbit in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” is on a similar level. In his third directorial effort after “I’m Still Here” and “Light Of My Life”, he has now teamed up with the “Coward Robert Ford” author Ron Hansen to write the script for a gothic (horror) drama. And in fact, “Company,” which spans several time levels, celebrates a similarly elegiac-poetic atmosphere as Andrew Dominik’s Brad Pitt anti-Western.
In addition, following the archetype of the “Cowboy”, this time it is once again about demystifying a classic film character – but we would rather not reveal who exactly it is about, because that is only revealed in the film itself after about two thirds of the running time. From then on, all the previously spun mystery yarn is neatly rolled up again – and you quickly realize that there is surprisingly little behind all the different fireside stories that you have listened to over the past hour and a half.
The (almost) furthest back in time of “Company” takes place in pioneer times in a lonely cabin in the snowy landscape of the American West.
The mysterious Evelyn (Emily Alyn Lind), dressed all in black and wearing a low-slung hat that hides her face, knocks on a front door on a rainy winter night in 1975. There’s a Christmas party going on inside, but apparently the family she actually wanted to go to no longer lives here. Nevertheless, the landlord invites the young woman in – and in return she begins to tell the guests a story: In 1950, Tom (Nick Nolte), who lives alone in his remote hut, is on the verge of death. On his last evening on earth, he discovers the actress Alice (Caylee Cowan), stranded in the snow, passed out in the snow, whom he brings in so that she can warm herself by the fireplace.
In return, she also begins to tell a story about a pioneer farmer couple (Scoot McNairy & Adelaide Clemens) who discover Caleb (Atticus Affleck) lying unconscious in the snow outside and bring them into their hut. From now on, the young man works as a night watchman on the farm for room and board, as there was recently a sinister series of murders in the area in which the victims were sometimes cruelly disfigured. The long-widowed neighbor (Ben Mendelsohn) meets Caleb, who constantly changes his story about how he actually ended up in this remote part of the country, and is therefore suspicious from the start…
Convoluted until it’s no longer possible
Everyone knows matryoshkas, those Russian nesting wooden dolls that, whenever you open one, reveal another doll inside (at least to a certain point). That’s pretty much what “Company” feels like: a story within a story within a story – and despite all the differences between the individual time levels, a lot of things seem suspiciously similar (e.g. several unconscious people in the snow). That sounds like a big plan, especially because many stories change again and again depending on who is telling them or to whom they are being told. There are several origin stories for an old pocket watch, all of which seem equally plausible (and one can hardly help but think of the pocket watch-in-the-butt-smuggled-out-of-Vietnam story by Christopher Walken from “Pulp Fiction”).
In addition, Casey Affleck and Ron Hansen add all sorts of poetic wisdom (or more appropriately: pretentious calendar sayings) to the exquisite images of the lonely American West. Until the twist is revealed, this babbles along for a good hour, although of course you make an effort to keep the different levels clearly in your head. However, it later turns out that none of this was absolutely necessary. It’s all much simpler than you would think given the story structure. Nevertheless, it’s definitely a pleasure to listen to – after all, it’s great actors like Nick Nolte, Ben Mendelsohn, Scoot McNairy and Adelaide Clemens who describe their fates here to the crackling fire.
Eight is better than one
However, Casey Affleck did his film no favors by casting his son Atticus Affleck in the film’s biggest role (his second son Indiana Affleck and his long-time partner Caylee Cowan also appear in smaller parts). Atticus may have inherited his father’s appearance and ghostly facial expressions, but there are significant differences when it comes to chrisma and talent.
While the plot just seems complex, the visual design actually is. In addition to himself, Casey Affleck has hired seven other of the best cameramen in the world, including Masanobu Takayanagi (“Hostiles”), Lachlan Milne (“Minari”), Adam Arkapaw (“Macbeth”) and the German Holger Jungnickel (“The Three ???”). The different time levels appear visually completely independent, even if the stories are similar – even very short flashbacks each have their own style. That’s a lot of effort for a story construct that ultimately collapses like a soufflé that has been baked for too long.
Conclusion: An essentially (too) simple story that is only artificially inflated to feature length with its Matryoshka-like narrative style and clumsy calendar verse poetry. The strengths lie primarily on the visual level, which is not surprising since Affleck has secured the collaboration of seven outstanding cameramen.
We saw “Company” at the Venice Film Festival, where it had its world premiere as part of the official competition.