I watched ballet last night? What the ... ?

In my quest to watch most -- if not all -- of Robert Altman's films (this goal driven home more since his 11.20.06 passing, aged 81 years), last night, thanks to Netflix, I sat down and watched his 2003 film, The Company.

The film, which "stars" Neve Campbell, James Franco, Malcolm McDowell, and the entirety of the Joffrey Ballet Company of Chicago, has no plot to speak of and is, to my untrained, not much more than a art-house, well-photographed paean to classical dance from Campbell, who also co-produced and co-wrote (the story -- what little there is of it -- not the screenplay) the movie; as Wikipedia tells us:

She began her show career as a dancer. She trained at the National Ballet School of Canada at the age of 9, and appeared in performances of The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty.

Her ambition since she was about six years old was to be a classically-trained ballerina, but after numerous injuries (pulled calf muscles, arthritis in the neck and hips, surgery on her feet, fallen arches, hip syndrome, tendonitis, shin splints, bursitis, etc.) she got a check-up from the doctor and he told her that she had practically no joints left.

I'll be the first to admit I know little, if anything, about dance -- especially ballet -- but watching a movie that had no story other than to, as stated by the director in the commentary track (to which I fell asleep), show a "day" or "season in the life of the company," with no plot points and no real characters to grab hold of and learn about (i.e., the aforementioned actors are the only professional actors in the piece; the Joffrey dancers are the other "characters"), I can't say that I particularly cared for this movie.

That being said, I'm loath to pan an Altman film upon only one viewing (e.g., I can't even begin to count how many times I've watched -- with or without commentary -- Gosford Park). Also, the way in which the dance sequences are filmed is truly masterful; perhaps, it has a lot to do with the fact that it was shot in high-def video (or something like that -- I'm not very technically-minded). Finally, one has to admire Campbell's commitment to spend months training to get back into that life and to actually perform professional dances with some of the most polished performers in this country, at least.

Besides, what other movie can boast the director of M*A*S*H, Alex from A Clockwork Orange, the girl from Party of Five (i.e., the one that's not Jennifer Love Hewitt or Lacey Chabert), and James Dean (well, sort of)?