I am – Hercules!!
A six-hour miniseries based on Robert Littell’s novel about CIA men trying to root out a mole over a span of 40 years, “The Company” airs over the next three Sundays on TNT. Directed by TV vet Mikael Salomon (“Nightmares and Dreamscapes,” The CW’s “Runaway”) from a teleplay by Ken Nolan (“Black Hawk Down”), it stars Michael Keaton (“Batman”), Chris O’Donnell (“Batman & Robin”) and Alfred Molina (“Spider-Man 2”). What I liked: Michael Keaton as the CIA’s chain-smoking counterintelligence chief takes center stage in the final installment, and he’s the reason I liked the final installment best. Alessandro Nivola is great as the O’Donnell character’s best friend. There are interesting characters among the Russians as well, especially Rory Cochrane (a long way from stoner Slater in “Dazed and Confused”) as an American-educated operative. Before he moved into directing television, Salomon was a big-screen cinematographer who lit the likes of “The Abyss,” “Backdraft” and “Far and Away”; “Company Man” is nothing if not easy on the eyes. And there is a fair amount of suspense, especially as the drama edges toward its conclusion. What I didn’t like: Cochrane and Keaton fairly disappear in next week’s installment, which is consumed with the depiction of two major historical events. The series plays too fast and loose with languages; though I liked the milkshake scene, it bugs me that the head of Castro’s secret police interrogates a Cuban national in English when the miniseries clearly knows how to employ subtitles. Chris O’Donnell is convincing playing a new Yale grad in 1950, but not good at playing a sixtysomething CIA man in 1991 with that squeaky Chris O’Donnell voice of his. Most damning are a couple of ludicrous plot points in the final episode as the CIA closes in on the deadly mole in their midst. So is “Company” good company? At the end of the day (or the three weeks), I say it’s interesting enough to forgive it its flaws. But what matters Herc’s opinion? Time says:

… this sometimes thought-provoking drama may be too familiar and slack for all but the most spy-struck.

Entertainment Weekly gives it a “B-plus” and says:

… a hell of a spy thriller …

USA Today gives it two stars (out of four) and says:

… too short to do its subject matter justice and too long and clumsy to keep us involved — a problem compounded by Chris O'Donnell's boyishly bland performance as TheCompany's central agent. …

TV Guide says:

… this darkly engrossing and quietly suspenseful six-hour miniseries packages its chilly, cynical overview of international Cold War espionage in a brisk parade of sumptuously produced historical set pieces. … Watching this web of deceit unfold, leaving no one unscathed, reminds you of how absorbing and satisfying the epic miniseries used to be in its glory days.

The Wall Street Journal says:

… truly gripping when it leaves mushy romantic plotlines aside and stops banging the pox-on-both-your-houses drum. …

The New York Times says:

… spicy … History has shown that neither the K.G.B. nor the C.I.A. was nearly as powerful or effective as it once seemed. “The Company” provides a welcome break from that reality; it’s an escape into the bracing, deluded days before the cold war ended, and the war on terror took its place.

The Los Angeles Times says:

… Some of it is very enjoyable, some of it is silly but still enjoyable, some of it is too silly to be enjoyable, some of it is not silly enough to be enjoyable, and some of it is neither here nor there. The best parts have been top-loaded into Sunday night's zippy opener …

The Washington Post says:

… deluxe-looking docudrama, lavish and at times even semi-spectacular … dry but ambitious -- and fitfully gripping …

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… "The Company" has ambition and time to tell a sprawling story, and there's something to be said about feeling comfortable with the enjoyment of the offering when you're halfway through it. But it's hard not to recommend that you rent "The Good Shepherd" instead. It's better written, better acted and about half as long. …

Variety says:

… The challenge of condensing Robert Littell's nearly-900-page novel, combined with some unfortunate casting choices, ultimately defeats "The Company" … Credit TNT with a nice try, but this uninvolving CIA chronicle does little to merit such a prominent tour of duty. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… Although fascinating for its portraits of the men who saw themselves as guardians of gates that protected democracy from the Goths -- and pocked with suspense -- "Company" has only a tiny number of feel-good moments. … Bleak but intriguing, "Company" is a brilliant reflection of the mind-set that dominated world politics for a half century. Solid performances are the rule, with special applause for Molina and Keaton.

9 p.m. Sunday. TNT.

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