Drama about corporate high-flyers who find themselves jobless once the 2008 recession hits. From the producer of TV's The West Wing, starring Ben Affleck, Mario Bello, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper and Kevin Costner.
Bobby (Affleck) is living the dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche. Then the recession hits and corporate downsizing leaves him and co-worker executives Phil (Cooper) and Gene (Lee Jones) jobless. Surplus to requirements in tough times, the three men need to restructure their lives. Bobby's attempts see him enduring enthusiastic life coaching, building houses for his brother-in-law (Costner) and realising "that there's more to life than chasing the bigger, better deal".
Expect this to be amongst the first wave of films dealing with the social topic du jour – the fall out from the global credit crunch. We’ve had documentaries focusing on the cause and effects, but this is the first notable work of big screen fiction that tells the story of the corporate employees who were kicked to the curb in the aftermath.
The bulk of the story is based around Ben Affleck’s white-collar everyman and his quest to claw his way back to employment and masculine self-worth. It’s all very hackneyed and predictable and not helped by Affleck’s tepid performance. The storylines of the supporting cast are far more interesting, addressing the darker side of job loss, particularly with Tommy Lee Jones’ character and the battlefield between greed and friendship that he finds himself on. Unfortunately, these remain only sub-plots, mere diversions from Affleck’s unconvincing rage and pious rebirth.
Of course, the message of corporate responsibility is present. The points made are good ones, even if you wish they could work them in a more subtle way. At the very least, it’s a hopeful take on a troubling issue, with a genuine belief in old-fashioned Americana values as the key to survival. A bit cheesy perhaps, but I’m sure there’s plenty out there that could do with a boost.
By Andreas Heinemann, Flicks.co.nz
Tommy Lee-Jones and Chris Cooper pulled out excellent performances in this film and even Kevin Costner comes off as quite likable but Ben Affleck can't quite pull his role off which is disappointing as the main story revolves around his character.
I found this great escapism - a good look into how the other half lives, and fails to 'live' once their world crumbles beneath them. Ben Affleck was superb in the role (with The Town and this, he can almost be forgiven for his J'Lo chick-flick fail days). His character is frustrating, you just wanted to shake him and make him see sense in what his wife was saying, but he got there in the end. A sad reflection of what is reality for many at the moment. I'd like a little bit more to the ending, I found it let the movie down a bit, but all in all, I'd give it 3.5 stars and watch it again.
Entertaining, a little " motherhood and apple pie" in style, but worth the going.
The cast doesn't treat The Company Men like a slideshow. They take something overly schematic and imbue it with real anxiety, shame, and humility.
Although the actors are convincing and the film well-crafted, The Company Men delivers few satisfactory character portraits because the movie isn't really about characters, it's about economic units.
Wells knows how to extract the goods from a great cast, but it's in service of a somewhat mundane story. Still, it'll make you think about the imbalance in the business world, even if the arguments and consequences are nothing all that revolutionary.
The movie is realistic enough to make all corporate climbers, but especially men over 50, quake in their boots. If you are what you do, what are you if you're no longer doing it?
While it may not have quite the quotability of Glengarry Glen Ross, John Wells’ first movie is a very modern and equally depressing tale of corporate downsizing and CEO tyrants.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 7th Jul 2011.
Release date: July 7th 2011.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
