The Company is presented through the eyes of three Yale classmates who all end up joining the spy game, two with the CIA and another with the Russian KGB. Jack (Chris O'Donnell) and Leo are friends who are both recruited to join the CIA in their senior year at Yale. At the same time another classmate, Yevgeny, returns home to Russia and is recruited to follow in his father's footsteps. All three join their respective groups for the same reason - patriotism. Jack and Leo want to change the world, while Yevgeny's job is to put his American education to good use and act as a double agent.
After joining, Leo is placed under the charge of James Angleton (Michael Keaton), who goes by the codename Mother, while Jack is sent to train as a field agent under the tutelage of Harvey Torriti (Alfred Molina), who has the really cool spy nickname of Sorceror.
From here, the movie begins to jump through the years and follow the careers of both men. Jack is soon sent to Hungary where he works as a CIA liaison to a group of freedom fighters who are chomping at the bit to revolt, despite the CIA telling them to wait. Meanwhile, back in the US, Angleton begins a decade long search for a mole in the agency when a Russian spy is discovered in Britain's MI6.
Once The Company gets going, there is a whole lot to like about it. However, you have to slog through the entire first part before anything of any major importance happens. The most exciting part of the first half deals with all the secret espionage coming in and out of Berlin; the rest is wasted on setting up romances between characters, such as the relationship between Jack and a German ballerina who is helping to provide the CIA with information. While it does set the groundwork for the later two episodes, it isn't the best way to begin a mini-series, at least if you want people to watch the next episode.
The second and third episodes are more action-packed and carry you through to the end. You get at least one large-scale battle sequence as well as a few people being tortured, Angleton's paranoid search for the mole in the CIA and the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
Although the story doesn't contend to be the entire truth, it does blend in some real agents to give it some historic grounding. Angleton is a real guy, as are several of the Russian agents. At the same time, there are a few "made up" plots that are presented as real. For instance, that Castro is warned about the Bay of Pigs by a double agent and the stock market crash is blamed on the Russians. Even Angleton's search, which sent him off the deep end, is shown as being something of substance rather than a paranoid delusion (in the real story, a mole is never found and he is forced to resign his position).
Overall, the three main actors turn in solid performances. Alfred Molina's character quickly became one of my favorites, though Chris O'Donnell does a good job as the lead role - and I typically don't like him as an actor. And, even though he really hasn't done anything in a few years, Michael Keaton shows why he's a damn good actor, especially when Angleton begins to crack. And no, it wasn't lost on me that not only does the movie feature a Batman and Robin teaming (oh, the jokes I'm holding back on), but the duo works with Dr. Octopus.
Two extras are included with the three-part mini-series. The first is a short "Making Of..." feature while the other tells about the novel the movie is based on and talks about its journey to becoming a film.
If you're into spy stuff, The Company is sure to appeal to you provided you can make it through the first few hours. After the escapades into the love lives of the characters is over, the action really begins to pick up at a fast pace and makes for a fun, solid spy adventure.
