(Long Island, N.Y.)You’re heard of feel-good movies, right? Well, aside from maybe a documentary about the horrors of Auschwitz, The Company Men is the ultimate feel-BAD movie. First off, The Company Men is a very timely release. Set during the current economic toilet that our country is currently swirling downward, it’s the tale of several rich fat-cats who lose their cushy corporate gigs due to downsizing and the resultant turmoil their lives are thrown into when they can’t find new jobs. It’s a fear I think all of us can relate to, although the film does offer a disturbing commentary on just how much a part of our lives our jobs can become and how getting canned not only results in a loss of a paycheck, but a possible loss of identity as well. And, in some cases, people just can’t cope with it.
The Company Men divides its time amongst three separate character arcs, all of whom are employees of a big company that’s into some hard times. Ben Affleck plays Bobby Walker, a 38 year-old executive with a mortgage and car he can’t really afford…so, of course you know he’ll be the first on the company chopping block. His wife, the obvious brains of the bunch, insists that they curtail spending until they get back on their feet, but the cocky Bobby goes dunce and squanders his severance while looking high and low for another corporate gig. He also has a son that he doesn’t get along with (that I’m not sure is his or his wife’s from another marriage), and a brother-in-law (Kevin Costner) who runs a small construction company that Bobby ends up working for when things get really bad. Anyway, Bobby goes into outplacement services where he struggles to find work and builds camaraderie with the other unemployed folks there.
Then we have Chris Cooper as Phil Woodward, who’s probably the most annoying and least sympathetic character in the movie. He’s an older executive, not all that useful, and constantly scared of losing his job, which of course, he finally does. Passed over for jobs as too old by employers used to having their pick of young, hungry up-and-comers without families who will work endlessly, he’s still bugged by his inconsiderate daughter for a trip to Italy. He comes to a bad end but you won’t mind, as he comes across as a weak, bland character with few redeeming qualities.
Overall, The Company Men is…well, I can’t say it’s enjoyable, because it’s somber and depressing as all hell, but it IS engrossing. You really do wonder how
things will turn out for Bobby and Gene, whereas I didn’t care at all for the fate of Chris, and in fact, was neither surprised nor upset when it came to pass. You won’t either, as he’s just filler for the non-Bobby and Gene scenes.
In a film this slow and deliberately-paced, you need some fine acting to keep the audience glued to the screen, and, I’m telling you, after spending years disliking Ben Affleck, his recent work has really turned me around on the guy. In The Company Men, he plays Bobby as
arrogant at first, but as the financial hardships, rejection, and humiliation starts wearing him down, he opens up and exposes layers of emotion that really just impressed the heck out of me. And Tommy Lee Jones played it like a world-weary man beaten down by the heartless realities of big business…heck, he’s even fired by his own best friend who he started the company with. It was refreshing to see Jones play someone that was actually somewhat depressive after so many over-the-top roles.
But the thing all three characters have in common
is that, just when you think they’ve sunken as low as they can go, they get even more crap dumped on them. Soon they’re swimming in it, and you’ll find yourself getting more and more bummed out all the while.
One thing I feel I have to mention is the odd editing in one scene of this movie. There’s a part where Ben Affleck and Kevin Costner are talking after finishing a hard day building a house, and they’re surrounded by their co-workers. Then, suddenly, they’re not. Ben and Kevin are magically alone now, but they don’t seem to notice or even care. Where did the co-workers go? Did aliens abduct them for some cavity probing? Did they melt? Or was the scene shot over the course of two days and the casting director just forgot to tell half the cast to come back the second day and they hoped the audience wouldn’t notice? Who knows? But it’s freaking
weird.
So, The Company Men is a movie that will probably make you want to slit your wrists in a bathtub of warm water while dropping a few plugged-in toasters in for good measure, but nonetheless, it does give you some fine acting, a great, topical tale, and hey, it even teaches you a
lesson about how there’s more to life than just where you work and how much dough you make. That’s a lesson we probably could all stand to learn.
