Dealing with the negative sentiment directed at this week’s ScreenShot selection right off the bat it must be said some viewers had no sympathy for the country clubbing, Porsche-scooting, inter-office philandering lifestyles of its main characters.
It was difficult for them, viewers said, to reach the desired level of empathy needed when those privileged lives are brought crashing down during the period covered in writer-director John Wells’ study of the economic nadir and wide-swath corporate downsizing of 2008.
With many obviously enduring far worse at the hands of corporate oligarchs who ruined lives and, arguably, the nation’s economy with a single stroke of the pen, our viewers apparently had a hard time getting behind the tailored suits who finally get their comeuppance at General Transportation Systems (GTX), which was apparently a ship-building company before it went corporate and started making lots of bank for shareholders.
The “Company Men” at GTX include Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck), who drives that Porsche, has a sweet golf swing, a big house in suburban Boston and a wife named Maggie (Rosemarie DeWitt), who is as expert at exercising Bobby’s credit cards as he is at racket sports.
When the economy tanks GTX goes through its first rounds of layoffs, Bobby and bedrock colleagues Phil (Chris Cooper) and Gene (Tommy Lee Jones) finding themselves redundant and in the unemployment lines. Suddenly without those juicy six figure salaries and the bills stacking up, each man seeks to re-shape himself and redefine their lives as they struggle to navigate the increasingly hostile post-career landscape.
And this, in our view, is where Wells and “The Company Men” really shine as we watch Bobby surrender his prized country-club membership and car, finally agreeing to attend those touchy-feely post-termination group therapy sessions, chanting and parroting motivational slogans he scoffed at when he was on top. As the men sink lower, they realize there isn’t much they really know how to do, Bobby ultimately enduring the final shame and accepting a blue-collar construction job from his brother-in-law (Kevin Costner). His c-suite superiors Gene and Phil also come on hard times, Phil dying inside as a job counselor suggests he dye his hair to appear younger to potential employers while Gene’s marriage unravels along with his extracurricular trysting with the noticeably younger Sally (Maria Bello).
In the end, The Company Men comes to its inevitable conclusion – much the same as the similarly themed Up In the Air (with its haunting pan shot of discarded, empty office chairs) and some messaging which has drawn fire from those you may expect would object to a portrayal of corporate evil versus the honest practicality of The Working Man.
All in all The Company Men is a serious, well-acted depiction of life and expectation and loyalty in a stark and changing world – perhaps with the added admonition that it may be wise to have multiple skill sets and your tool belt handy.
Just in case.
What We Liked: Solid acting by a solid cast. Well written and evenly paced.
Drawbacks: Somewhat limited in scope with passing references to people further down the economic ladder than these privileged few.
Where to See It: Amazon Prime, Apple TV
Saw it long ago. I liked what it had to offer, along with Up in the Air. Difficult times do offer opportunities for good drama. And, I have to believe that flawed men can be likeable. I’m counting on that whole grace thing.
Good movie that resonates with anyone who has been through a layoff.
Saw it happen to my dad and watched the effect it had on him. He was never the same afterward.
As long as the CEO can live comfortably on those multimillion dollar salaries I’m content to grovel in my hovel.
Good one.