Sharpe's Company (1994)

I regret that I must strike a discordant note here. All the other reviews of 'Sharpe's Company' are highly positive, but the film left me feeling uneasy.It certainly has many strengths. The photography is good, as are the action scenes. The period feel is effective, and the history accurate. Sean Bean provides an impressive screen presence, ably supported by a good cast.And yet...Several things stick in the gullet. How does the evil Sgt Hakeswill character get away with so much? Sharpe is an officer, and so can outrank him at every turn, but he only seeks to thwart Hakeswill from time to time, when it suits him. This allows Hakeswill to get away with - literally - murder, several times.Why didn't Sharpe make more effort to protect the charming and likable Sally Clayton (Louise Germaine)? Hakeswill made his designs on her clear from an early stage, but no-one stopped him raping and murdering her at the end.I realise that it is only fiction. Nonetheless, drama like this requires belief, empathy with the characters and a sense of poetic justice - and none of this was fulfilled by the Hakeswill parts of the plot.Allowing Hakeswill to get away with so much also resulted in enormous holes in the plot. Why was Hakeswill not punished for shooting the boy ensign in the back? There were no French around at the time whom he could have claimed to be shooting at, and the weapon used could be easily traced to him, as it was an unusual weapon used by very few.How did Hakeswill manage to rape and murder Sally Clayton when the camp would be full of other camp followers and sentries? Why didn't Sharpe chase after him after their fight in the city house at the end? (and thus prevent him from going on to commit the rape and murder). The film shows Sharpe giving up because a few redcoats were in the way - but they didn't stop him racing up to save his 'wife' moments before. He just barged them out of the way then - why not again?.Since Hakeswill was shot and wounded by Harper, why did the last scene of him by Sally Clayton's body - chronologically very shortly after - show him fully fit and unwounded? And so on.These aspects could easily have been resolved with a bit more thought and attention to detail - and a bit more compassion and desire for poetic justice from the writers.It may not have spoilt the film for the other reviewers - but it did for me.

Sharpe's Company is the third TV film in the series based on Bernard Cornwell novel. It tells the life of Richard Sharpe, an officer who serves in the British Army during the Napoleanic wars. This film is set years after Sharpe's Eagle in 1812 and Sharpe had become a Captain and fathered a child with the Spanish resistance fighter Teresa during that time. At the beginning of the film the British Army fought a tough battle against the French and Sharpe's commanding office Colonel Lawford is badly injured. Because of this he is relieved of his command and a new Colonel takes command of the regiment and bring in his own officers. Sharpe is demoted and loses command of the Chosen Men. Also with the new recruit is Sharpe's old enemy from years before, Sergeant Obidiah Hakeswill (Pete Postlethwaite). The new officers make Sharpe into no more then a desk clerk, and his Chosen Men are being humiliated, being turned into ordinary soldiers. Hakeswill is on a personal vendetta against Sharpe through the siege of Badajoz, sucking up to the officers so he can't be punished and making the Chosen Men do tasks like digging a trench. In the middle of this Teresa is spying for the English in the fortress.What I like about Cornwell novels and the Sharpe films is that it shows a mix picture with the British army and that they was a lot of politics and positioning within the army. The French are casted as the enemy, but they are not made as pure evil, like the English were in Braveheart or the British in the Patriot. The big enemy was with the British army itself. Pete Postlethwaite steals the show as the villain of the film, and he was great being sleazy and psychopathic. They are also solid performance from Sean Bean, Daragh O'Malley and Marc Warren.This is not as action packed as the previous two Sharpe films, but that's because the military focus was on the siege and not any battles. At times it was a little slow, but the personal focus was still needed and in general it was a good Sharpe film.

Third in the Sharpe series , Sharpe's Company introduces Sharpe's nemesis , Sergeant Obidiah Hakeswill ( Peter Postlethwaite ) .Hakeswill is a thoroughly nasty piece of work , having had Sharpe flogged when he was a young soldier , and starts with the same tricks again.This film gives some idea of the tribulations of the ordinary Redcoats , at the whim of sometimes hopeless Officers whose commissions were bought , and who wanted NCOs who kept order , and didn't mind how it was done.As with many of the Sharpe series , this is based around a historic battle . In this case it is the battle of Badajoz , where Hakeswill gets up to even more mischief .Another great Postlethwaite performance !

The wonderful thing about Sharpe's Company is that it can be viewed alone, and without knowledge of the novels, or it can be viewed in the series, or it can be viewed after reading the novel. Most of the other films, if one is familiar with the novels, seem to be "view at your own risk." Sharpe's Rifles springs to mind as one of those. But they got it right with Sharpe's Company. The plot is the same, just less time spent setting it up. Accuracy is a key element to this one (accurate to the novel, not the history). For historical purists, the reader's note Bernard Cornwell puts at the end of the novel is a necessity if one is familiar with the siege of Badajoz. As for the plot, fully formed, it actually makes sense, and, of course, the hero and his sidekick will have to live to fight another day. It's part of a series, and that always makes you feel good, since you know Sharpe and Harper aren't going to die. As for the rest, Hakeswill's first appearance is a delight, and Pete Postlethwaite outshines the rest of the cast. Sean Bean is, of course, in perfect character, but out acted by Daragh O'Malley. In short, Sharpe's Company is an excellent introduction to the Sharpe series, even though it is not meant to be the first, and a fitting addition wherever it belongs in the real order of things.