The Company Men (2010)

October 21, 2010 (US) • Drama • 104m

Overview

Bobby Walker lives the proverbial American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and two co-workers jobless, the three men are forced to re-define their lives as men, husbands and fathers.

Director

John Wells

Writer

John Wells

Top Billed

Ben Affleck

Keywords

stock price corporate carpenter job hunting

Where to watch

Free / Included

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fuboTV

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Philo

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Top Billed Cast

Ben Affleck

Bobby Walker

Tommy Lee Jones

Gene McClary

Chris Cooper

Phil Woodward

Kevin Costner

Jack Dolan

Maria Bello

Sally Wilcox

Rosemarie DeWitt

Maggie Walker

Craig T. Nelson

Salinger

Eamonn Walker

Danny

Tom Kemp

Conal Doherty

Nancy Villone

Diane Lindstrom

Patricia Kalember

Cynthia McClary

Gary Galone

Karlson (uncredited)

David De Beck

John Franchi

Neighbor

Sasha Spielberg

Sarah Woodward

John Doman

Dysert

William Hill

Kevin Walker

Cady Huffman

Joanna

Crew

Claire Rudnick Polstein

Producer

Paula Weinstein

Producer

Barbara A. Hall

Executive Producer

John Wells

Screenplay

John Wells

Producer

John Wells

Director

Tom Williams

Sound Mixer

Roger Deakins

Director of Photography

Aaron Zigman

Original Music Composer

Laura Rosenthal

Casting

Robert Frazen

Editor

David J. Bomba

Production Design

Lyn Paolo

Costume Design

Kyra Friedman Curcio

Set Decoration

John R. Jensen

Art Direction

Brenda McNally

Hair Department Head

Trish Seeney

Makeup Department Head

Emma C. Rotondi

Key Hair Stylist

Sherryn Smith

Makeup Artist

Kelly Cronin

Script Supervisor

Claire Folger

Still Photographer

Maceo Bishop

Steadicam Operator

Dave Cambria

Rigging Gaffer

Jeffrey Lee Gibson

Stunt Coordinator

Donna Casey-Aira

Costume Supervisor

Denis Leining

Art Department Coordinator

Ann Kline

Music Supervisor

Angie Rubin

Music Editor

Gabrielle Mahon

Production Supervisor

Michael Babcock

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Tim LeBlanc

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Skip Lievsay

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Gregory H. Watkins

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Kelly Cabral

Supervising Sound Editor

Melissa A. Corns

Sound Effects Editor

Judson Bell

Special Effects Supervisor

Lori Hornung

Production Coordinator

Elizabeth Kenton

Dialogue Editor

Aynee Osborn

Dialogue Editor

Michael Hatzer

Digital Colorist

Kristin Harms

Co-Producer

A.J. Boles

Assistant Location Manager

Reviews

Andres Gomez

⭐ 7/10

November 27, 2014

The story is quite flat and stereotypical. No ups and downs. Everything goes as expected and, of course, we have a hopeful positive ending for the needs of the US viewer.

The cast is impressive and direction, cut and performances are OK.

The Movie Diorama

⭐ 6/10

January 17, 2020

The Company Men calmly reflects a recessive economic climate through a downsizing company. Financial stability is the sole craving in everyone’s life. The upper class. The middle class. Every class. The notion to which one will never encounter the fear of losing their personal possessions and their career position. Corporate employees specifically seek the solidity in their salaries, to be able to provide for their own pride and families. When the economic recession devastated the States last decade, its impact was critical. Innocent workers essentially lost their lives, driving themselves into the descent of debt.

Wells’ well-intentioned drama explores the collapse of a shipbuilding corporation, following various employees that have been made redundant and/or steering the metaphoric sinking ship. It’s an off-beat peculiarity that forces Wells’ direction to be enticing and inadvertently unappealing simultaneously. The characters themselves, particularly Marketing VP Walker, HR Manager Wilcox and CEO Salinger, are insufferably narcissistic. Walker especially who envelops himself in pride, given the immense financial loss he encounters that prevents him from fully supporting his family and being able to play at luxurious golf club houses. The response to his firing, whilst natural in the sense that he refuses to release the life that he leads, abnormally thinks more about himself than his family. The overwhelming aura of egotism, not just from him, constrains these characters to be unlikeable.

Yet the peculiarity in Wells’ execution is that, despite the vehement behaviour, there’s a sympathetic undertone throughout. Not because you relate to the characters, but the scenario instead. Wells delicately leaves several moments to hang, simmering on a bed of dismissal, that forces you to position yourself in the characters’ shoes. With that in mind, he manages to transform the unappealing characteristics of these employees and turn them into tolerable motives. Slowly but surely, through enduring perseverance, opportunities are tackled. And that’s exactly the purpose of The Company Men.

It illustrates the tenacity of the human spirit during uncertain times. The orienteering session being a prime example of depicting this motive. Anyone who has been in a situation such as redundancy will relate to this film for its situational representation, not for its characters. That’s no criticism on the acting though, as each performance is competently given without resorting to melodrama. Cooper in particular gave a nuanced and credible performance, that left his character’s fate somewhat unpredictable.

My main issue however is the scope of The Company Men. Instead of focussing on just one employee, Wells’ decided to explore the entirety of GTX’s corporate ladder. Whilst harmless for its narrative structure, it did downplay the severity of the recession. Almost making light of the national economic declination. Solely following one employee through this hard time would’ve produced greater character development whilst also tackling the recession from each angle. Wells’ intentions were clear, just didn’t entirely work for me on an emotional level. Fortunately Deakins’ cinematography consistently entranced with his beautiful autumnal shots, but that’s not surprising let’s be honest.

Much like precariously balancing on the corporate tightrope, The Company Men occasionally stumbles with its peculiar narrative and character choices yet seemingly gets the job done with assured performances and a heartfelt motive. Remember, remain positive even in the darkest of moments.

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Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

$15,000,000

Revenue

$4,882,577

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The Company Men (2010)

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

Andres Gomez

The Movie Diorama

Recommended Movies

Dumb Money

SPiN

GameStop: The Wall Street Hijack

Set It Up

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

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