Company Business

Company Business

Year: 1991

Runtime: 98 mins

Language: English

Director: Nicholas Meyer

ActionThriller

You can’t judge a man by the company that keeps him! An aging agent is called back by “the Company” to run a hostage trade of a Soviet spy for an American agent.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Company Business (1991)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Company Business (1991). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Late 1980s

Set during the waning years of the Cold War, the plot hinges on off-book operations, sleeper agents, and shifting alliances. The era’s uncertainties blur lines between friend and foe as Western intelligence agencies negotiate fragile partnerships. The end of the Cold War reshapes how espionage is conducted, pushing characters toward riskier, money-driven choices. The mood blends paranoia with a sense of geopolitical realignment.

Location

Dulles Airport, Berlin, Paris, Seychelles

The story unfolds across several major international hubs. It begins with a handover at Dulles Airport and travels through Berlin’s underground tunnels, Paris, and ultimately the Seychelles. Each location provides a backdrop for espionage, chase sequences, and high-stakes negotiations between CIA, KGB, and other players.

🌆 Urban locations 🗺️ Cold War backdrop 🔀 International intrigue

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 12:53

Main Characters – Company Business (1991)

Meet the key characters of Company Business (1991), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Sam Boyd (Gene Hackman)

A seasoned CIA veteran turned freelance corporate spy whose hands-on approach clashes with younger, tech-driven operatives. He is skeptical of official narratives and willing to bend rules to accomplish a mission. His pragmatism and willingness to improvise under pressure define his navigation through shifting loyalties.

🧭 Veteran ⚖️ Pragmatic 🗝️ Resourceful

Pyotr Ivanovich Grushenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov)

A KGB mole who has endured years in captivity and remains calculating and wary. He partners with Boyd while concealing deeper motives and a personal history with his daughter Natasha. His strategic mind keeps the stakes high and the moves unpredictable.

🕵️‍♂️ Cold intelligence 🤝 Complex loyalties 🗺️ International player

Benjamin Sobel (Bob Sherman)

A U-2 pilot captured over the Soviet Union who was turned and now lives undercover as an economics professor in America. His past and present identities become central to the plot’s deception, fueling the twist that someone may be playing all sides.

🛩️ Sleeper agent 🗝️ Dual identity 🧩 Deception

Faisal (Nadim Sawalha)

A Saudi arms dealer who appears as a conduit for funds but is economically strained in the post-Cold War climate. He represents shifting geopolitics where old patrons lose influence and new arrangements must be negotiated.

🤝 Middleman 💼 Financial leverage 🌍 Global reach

Colonel Pierce Grissom (Terry O’Quinn)

The CIA superior who insists on handling the handover off the books. He embodies the bureaucratic pressure and moral ambiguity of intelligence work, balancing operational risk with official protocol.

🧭 Authority 🧩 Bureaucracy ⚡ Tension

Elliot Jaffe (Kurtwood Smith)

Boyd’s CIA superior who initiates and relentlessly pursues the rogue operation. He represents shifting priorities within the agency as circumstances force riskier, non-official actions.

🎯 Authority 🕯️ Shadow operations 🧭 Strategy

Natasha Grimaud (Géraldine Danon)

Grushenko’s apparent girlfriend who is later revealed to be his daughter. She becomes a key link between personal ties and the money movements that drive the story across Paris and beyond.

👩‍👧 Family 💳 Intercepted finances 🗼 Paris liaison

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 12:53

Major Themes – Company Business (1991)

Explore the central themes of Company Business (1991), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🕵️‍♂️ Espionage

The film centers on secret missions, off-book operations, and the constant surveillance that defines intelligence work. Protagonists navigate a world where information is currency and every move risks exposure. The plot emphasizes negotiating with hidden agendas and the moral ambiguity of spying. Tension arises from the need to stay one step ahead of both enemies and superiors.

🤝 Trust and Betrayal

Relationships become fragile under pressure as allies can turn into liabilities and rivals masquerade as friends. Boyd and Grushenko form a cautious partnership while governments manipulate events behind the scenes. Betrayal stems from personal loyalties clashing with institutional ambitions. The narrative exposes how trust is built on fragile, shifting foundations.

💸 Money and Power

The central cash exchange and subsequent laundering drive the plot, showing how money fuels espionage and creates incentives that override ideology. Fake IDs, new identities, and Swiss bank accounts become tools to distance players from accountability. Financial motives shape decisions and loyalties as much as strategic goals. Money acts as both lure and leverage in the chase.

🕊️ End of an Era

The looming end of the Cold War reshapes intelligence strategies and alliances. Old rivalries soften as cooperation emerges from necessity, even amid mutual suspicion. The era’s shift forces characters to improvise and adapt to new geopolitical realities. The tension comes from a world on the cusp of transformative change.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 12:53

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Cold War Paranoia Thrillers like Company Business

Espionage thrillers where former enemies are hunted by their own agencies.If you liked the anxious, clandestine feel of Company Business, this collection is for you. Discover similar movies about espionage during the Cold War, featuring fugitives on the run, shifting loyalties, and a tense, paranoid atmosphere. These thrillers focus on survival and betrayal in a world where no one can be trusted.

paranoidclandestineanxiousworld-wearyunravelingbetrayalfugitive

Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread often begin with a covert operation that goes wrong, forcing protagonists to become fugitives hunted by the very organizations they served. The narrative is a frantic chase, driven by the need to uncover a conspiracy or simply survive, while former adversaries must rely on each other against a common, unseen enemy.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared depiction of the Cold War's tense, paranoid endgame. They feature a specific mood of anxiety and disillusionment, fast-paced chases, and the central theme of operatives betrayed by their systems, creating a coherent experience of frantic survival.

Movies with Fugitive Alliances like Company Business

Thrillers where reluctant partners must trust each other to escape pursuers.Fans of the dynamic between the aging agent and Soviet spy in Company Business will enjoy these films. This list features action and thriller movies where two unlikely partners are thrown together on the run, forcing them to improvise and rely on each other to survive against powerful pursuers.

improvisedunravelingsurvivalshifting loyaltiesfranticpragmaticon the run

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a crisis that instantly makes protagonists into targets, stripping them of institutional support. The plot is a series of escalating chases and close calls, where the central conflict evolves from external pursuit to the internal struggle of building trust between the paired characters under extreme duress.

Why These Movies?

These movies share the specific character arc of an improvised alliance born from necessity. They are united by a fast pace, high intensity, and a tense tone that focuses on the psychological and tactical challenges of two people learning to cooperate while evading capture.

Unlock the Full Story of Company Business

Don't stop at just watching — explore Company Business in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Company Business is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Company Business Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Company Business, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

Company Business Summary

Company Business Timeline

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Company Business Timeline

Company Business Spoiler-Free Summary

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Company Business Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Company Business

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Company Business: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

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