The two begin a happy relationship after Josh sees Ry seductively playing pool to Elvis Costello's recording of "My Funny Valentine," a song which recurs throughout the movie.

Antonelli and Desrosiers quickly pick Ry to be the featured female dancer in the work after she impresses them by dancing Lar Lubovitch's My Funny Valentine outside during a thunderstorm.

The work proves difficult to stage, with another dancer suffering a career-ending injury to her Achilles tendon in rehearsals; its demands also strain Ry's personal life, at one point causing her to miss a complicated dinner made for her by Josh.

In between the preparations for Blue Snake, the company stages and rehearses many other pieces, including a dance on a swing set to Julee Cruise's "The World Spins."

Neve Campbell and James Franco prepared for their roles as restaurant workers by training under Mickaël Blais, the chef of Marche, an upscale bistro in Chicago.

The film ultimately grossed $2,283,914 in North America and $4,117,776 in foreign markets, bringing its worldwide box office total to $6,401,690—well below its estimated $15 million budget.

The site's consensus states: "Its deliberately unfocused narrative may frustrate some viewers, but The Company finds Altman gracefully applying his distinctive eye to the world of dance.