Review of In the Company of Men (1997) by Tyler M — 04 Dec 2007

Manipulation... That's it... Just manipulation.

It's not your average romantic comedy, but it's still got a little bit of charm.

The Story: Two executives on a 6 week business trip, exact revenge on women in general by courting a deaf woman only to break her down emotionally. But when one of them falls in love things get a little more complicated. It's not exactly stylish, and it's not entirely unlike Labutes later effort in manipulation, The Shape of Things. The camera oftentimes doesn't move, making the film feel boring and unmoving (like The Shape of Things). There's also a lot of long shots, almost as if LaBute wants the audience to feel distant from these characters, not a good idea by any means. So what you're left with is something that should be on stage, not on screen. Along side the uninteresting and uninvolving camera is a story that manages to move quickly. Quickly but not necessarily nicely, it moves from point to point, and at times even moves erratically. It always moves forward just not smoothly. Also worth mentioning is a very strange soundtrack. The music doesn't fit in, and it only shows up when the screen goes blank and says something like "Week Two" or "Week Three".

The Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Stacy Edwards, Matt Malloy... Aaron Eckhart is Chad, the brains behind the scheme. He's cold, heartless, charming, charismatic, and handsome. He gives a good performance, a very believably evil character. Matt Malloy is Howard, he's Chads opposite, he's not so handsome, he's nice, warm, loving, not the most charismatic person in the world but he tries. He gives the best performance, which is sad because you see him the least in the entire film. Stacy Edwards is Christine, she's the deaf woman that never really knew what love was until Chad and Howard showed up, and even then never really knew what love was. She gives a great solid performance, and makes the film worth the price of admission. Not the most loveable cast of characters in the world but still somewhat entertaining.

One to Five Scale: 3.

Some great performances and an original story are brought down by bad cinematography. If you want a film about manipulation and romance, go watch the Shape of Things. In the Company of Men is less pretentious, but The Shape of Things is more humorous and just plain more entertaining.

Tyler.