Review of In the Company of Men (1995) by Kevin P — 23 Oct 2007

There are two wave lengths in which this film succeeds. The first is the tone and camera work. The characters live a day to day life of business and order. The film encompasses their lives on the job. The camera work reflects that with extensive static shots of indoor office interiors and other sights that exist in the everyday work world.

The air of the film is so dry it becomes one with the stagnant work world. The other wave length is the language in the characters. At first their prank against a female employee is just a prank and them acting out, but this permissiveness in the work environment intensifies and the characters go beyond their crude ideas of a prank with full fledged power drives to succeed at work.

The beginning of the film makes it look like it will be a slam against women, but the way the story evolves and takes full bloom makes it to be a power struggle amongst all the characters. Neil LaBute, a talented writer and playwright, knows the right temperature to tell the story.

It's a careful build up to an emotional climax. The slowness of the story envelopes both the way of life of the businessman and allows the story to better accentuate the deep seeded frustations and ego maniacal tensions of their world.