The Company

There is a book by the name of "The Sword and The Shield," which details all the historical gaps that this movie may leave out. I haven't read the book titled "The Company," which this film is based on. However, this book (The Company) and the likewise named mini-series will probably be the best telling of the historical account in video format. For any Cold War buff and espionage fanatic who is familiar with the true workings of the NKVD to the KGB, they will be pleased.

This film is no James Bond type cold war thriller. After all, could you really detail the exploits of 50 some years of history in a 2 hour spy film? The main plot and character's names of this mini-series are on par with the facts that history reveals to us. To anyone who is intimately familiar with the Cold War and the espionage struggles between the Soviet Union and the USA, you will find this mini-series extremely accurate. But more so, you will find this mini-series entertaining.

The bottom line is that, this is an entertaining production that holds true to a majority of the facts. If the Cold War and real spy stories are entertaining to you, then it's suggested that you view this mini-series. Not only will the "uninformed" viewer enjoy this mini-series, but the historian will also enjoy how this mini-series doesn't vary far from the truth. This is definitely a recommended mini-series on the real spy games of the Cold War!

I thought that The Company was brilliant!! I enjoyed all 6 hours of the mini series!! When was the last time a movie(series) revolved around such an event as The Bay Of Pigs?? I know I haven't, and it's probably because it was a huge flop as a tactic and made the U.S and JFK look foolish. Plus the series doesn't just focus on one aspect of U.S. and world history, it focuses on the CIA's involvement in The Cold War from just after WWII, until the early 1990's, which entails a huge portion of 20th century history. The Company involved so many important world events that it in my opinion, it far surpassed any other movie/series of its kind. These days all of the movies are about much more physical wars such as Pearl Harbor, Letters From Iwo Jima, Saving Private Ryan, etc. It's just really refreshing to see a movie/series that is not just so unique in it's composure, but also shows the opinions of the "war" from both sides.

Michael Keaton's performance is spellbinding, astounding. I couldn't believe what I was watching. When he's on screen, he lifts the piece onto a wholly different level. Unreservedly worth watching for his screen time alone. The unnerving atmosphere he creates happily offsets the unfortunate mawkishness that marrs parts of the Berlin and Budapest stories. Alfred Molina also deserves praise for a strong, gutsy performance as a permanently booze-fueled, no nonsense old time field commander. Production values are pretty high for a television series - Ridley Scott's production presence no doubt helped on that front - and the post-war look and atmosphere of the Berlin sequences is particularly well realised. But this is unmistakably Keaton's tour-de-force.

Where to begin. The performances in the show are quite good the action is established and the historical aspect of the show is right on in most respects. The cast includes a few veteran actors and a few younger actors. Rory Cochrane from CSI Miami, and Chris O'Donnell from the Batman* movies and the Bachelor are cast in very good roles. Followed by Alfred Molina and Michael Keaton taking on the leading roles, who I might add fit there roles perfectly. Having only seen the first of the three episodes and watching the preview for the next two I see that the show will go on only to get better with the addition of even more actors and cameo's from some of my personal favorites the outlook is good. In my opinion espionage has never looked so good.

Having read the book, I feel that the screenwriter did a magnificent job in conveying the story & characters. Almost 900 pages of a very complex novel were captured in a clear, understandable way. Michael Keaton's performance in particular, was as my husband said, "Awesome". This is no surprise to us because he has always been so versatile. I noticed that although some of the scenes in the book could have been shown as they were written, very graphic & difficult to watch, they instead played to our imagination, which for me, is enough, & pointed out the Class of this presentation. Too many stories on TV are played for sensationalism, without regard for the viewers' sensibilities. I can see Emmys in this series' future.