Last year’s Up in the Air was about a guy who fired people for a living. We watched scene after uncomfortable scene of former employees reacting with shock, disbelief and indignation when they are bluntly told that their years of service and sacrifice have reached a premature end. Since the main character, played by charismatic star George Clooney, held all the power, there was some distance between us and the trauma of these poor souls. The Company Men attempts to close this distance. It’s about some of those unlucky guys who find their head on the chopping block. A story about the little man – played by a big star.
Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck; The Town) has a great job, a big house and an expensive car. A high roller at the GTX Corporation, he’s reached the stage in life where he thinks more about improving his golf swing than anything else. Until he walks into work one morning a high-paid executive and walks out carrying a cardboard box, the victim of a merciless corporate evil: downsizing. From that moment on, he finds his lifestyle and identity systematically stripped away as the full weight of his misfortune slowly rolls over everything that is important to him.
Even though Bobby loses his foothold early in the film, he still has an ally at GTX in Gene, who has been with the company since day one but is powerless to stop the layoffs. With his weathered features and abandoned puppy look, Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men) is the moral centre of the film, as Gene is locked between righteous but redundant Bobby and their ruthless boss, a capitalist demon second only to Gordon Gekko. The unseen villain of The Company Men is equally heartless and evasive; Bobby and thousands of other GTX employees are sacrificed in a series of downsizes prompted by an economic collapse. The cry of the stockholders seems to be louder than that of the shellshocked executives, and by the end of the film half the cast finds itself marching through the same unemployment services office.
This all sounds rather dreary – as it should – but there are plenty of light moments to break up the doom and gloom. The overenthusiastic career coaching Bobby is subjected to will make you cringe along with him, and when he swallows his reluctance to accept a job working for his brother-in-law (Kevin Costner in a blue collar), we can’t help but enjoy watching him squirm as Costner has fun with an uncharacteristically lightweight role. However, the film suffers from underwritten characters – Costner and particularly costar Chris Cooper (who also had a small but pivotal role alongside Ben Affleck in The Town) aren’t given much to work with, and deliver performances that are arguably better than their roles.
The Company Men is the feature debut for writer/director John Wells, whose background in television (ER, The West Wing) influences his approach here – short, punchy scenes and a revolving cast of characters in turmoil help to maintain interest and momentum, even when the material seems a bit thin or strays into feelgood territory. Ultimately, your experience of the film will be determined by how much sympathy you develop for the characters. Their plight of being unceremoniously cast aside while having families to take care of is indeed a compelling setting, but it’s hard to forget that these guys are all wealthy and leading a very privileged lifestyle – maybe cancelling their next ski trip and losing their golf club membership isn’t quite the end of the world. As a result, the film lacks a bit of bite and doesn’t offer the catharsis you expect. This is no fault of the cast, however, as the performances are strong and convincing – as an actor’s showcase, you’re definitely in good company.
