Review of The Company Men (2010) by Jeff M — 14 Apr 2012

Written and directed by John Wells (ER, The West Wing), this is a timely and relevant story about the effects of corporate downsizing during the recent economic recession in the U.S.

The film follows typical all American white collar worker Bobby Walker who enjoys living the American Dream, complete with Porsche, nice house, country club membership, and lots of expensive meals and material possessions. All of that comes crashing down when his company decides they no longer need him, or veteran co-workers like his boss Gene McClary and Phil Woodward.

Being let go forces all of these men, but especially Bobby, to reevaluate their lots in life and their self worths, and reclaim their lives, which used ot be dominated by their work.

This is a very noble and honorable film, so it is unfortuante that it's not really all that good. PArt of the problem is that it feels like TV melodrama, which makes sense given Wells's background. Also, this is all very bland, with clunky dialogue and no surprises with the outcomes. There's one hell of a cast, which ultiamtely saves things, and, while they do the best they can with the material, it's not quite enough to make the film fully recommendable.

Affleck actually puts in a solid performance, his first in a while, and we do actually care about him and his struggles. Veterans like Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, and Craig T. Nelson lend lots of class and much needed gravitas to things, but again, the film doesn't quite become anything very remarkable. Aside from an iffy Boston accent Costner is fine, and I love Maria Bello, but she could have been given a lot more to do here.

Honestly, this does have a lot of good moments to it, and it is well meaning, but it's ultimately not very memorable or quite as strong as it should have been. No matter how noble things may be, that can't help you much with a weak script and not enough inspiration.