The Company Men [HD]

"You can probably skip the diet cokes. They aren't working for ya"
This film seems to be getting mixed reviews at best. It wasn't even released nationwide, or at least not at a theater near me, and very little promotion was given to it. I think that's a shame because it's an enjoyable film that actually explores not just the recent economy and downsizing in Corporate America but the North American situation (obsession with property, possessions and passing pleasures rather than true happiness). That said, I understand that films involving the recent economy haven't done well and I can see why many people wouldn't be eager to get out only to sit in a theater and watch what can be seen as a very depressing story that has a lot of truth to it.

Outside of that fact I still say this is a good film if not entirely great. Ben Affleck is well cast and likable as a man who has it all until his company is hurt by the economy and he finds himself included in the list of recent layoffs, the last thing he expected given his position at the company. He...

A thought-provoking, realistic, and timely film!
This is a film that oozes with realism and timeliness. The GTX corporation, headed by an overpaid, callous CEO (Craig T. Nelson)--who cares only about the stockholders, a new corporate headquarters, and his salary and stock options--cuts divisions and lays off thousands of workers--some of whom have been with him and the firm for decades. It's not that they aren't hardworking and dedicated, it's just "business."

One of the men who is laid off is in his thirties (Ben Affleck); the other is twenty years older (Chris Cooper). Another (Tommy Lee Jones) roomed in college with the CEO and helped him build the company from the ground up, concentrating on shipbuilding in the Boston area. All three men live lavishly, with fancy houses, furnishings, and cars.

Affleck is great as the proud, bitter, and then humbled white-collar executive, who has to sell his million-dollar home (in the depressed housing market) and Porsche, and then move in with his parents and work for his...

It's a Dog Eat Dog World
"The Company Men" is a sober telling of life within a modern company. Men come to be defined by their jobs and when the job is taken away from them, they are lost. Their world as they understand it simply collapses.

At a high level, "The Company Men" covers the lives of several executives of the ship building division of GTX Corporation, an American conglomerate. Profitability and growth seems to be eluding the division and the only response of management is downsizing and, when this fails, more downsizing. Each man is thrown into a whirlpool. Their lives of debt and over-consumption come to a screeching halt. If there is one message from this film it is that too many people assume that things won't change. Too little attention is paid to saving for a rainy day. Consumption is king.

There are excellent performances by Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Affleck. Both end up being "let go" and both struggle with the consequences. However, eventually, reality must be...

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