COMPANY MEN

“COMPANY MEN” (Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello, Kevin Costner & Craig T. Nelson)

Having been a victim of ‘downsizing’ a couple of years ago I thought I would relate very closely with this film... Didn’t happen.
I’ve always gotten a chuckle out of those who make the claim that ‘Hollywood doesn’t connect with the common man’. I’ve always found there to be an abundant supply of moronic films specifically made for the common American male. But this time its true – If Hollywood (in this case writer/director John Wells) thinks that the average American that lost his job in the last few years and is struggling to make ends meet these days can relate to these $100,000+ salaried corporate bigwigs & smug board room jackasses, they (he) are (is) sadly mistaken - At least from the opinion of this struggling American male.
Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) saunters into a conference room bragging about the game of golf he played that morning (Yawn!) so it was hard to feel sorry for this arrogant jerk when he gets the axe. These bozos think they’re so important that the company couldn’t survive without them so they continue living high on the hog despite being in a country where the economy is in a definite meltdown mode.
Tommy Lee Jones plays Gene McClary – best friend of the CEO of GTX (Craig T. Nelson) Gene is indignant when Bobby is let go, but when 60 year old buddy Phil (Chris Cooper) is dismissed, Gene doesn’t seem to care that much... possibly due to the fact that his best friend also fired Gene on the same day.
There’s a scene where Gene’s wife asks if he could get one of the corporate jets to fly her girlfriends to Florida to play golf. After Gene stares at her for a reply, she says, “Fine, we’ll fly commercial.”
With a story like this, isn’t it imperative that the audience feel bad for these people?
Gene seems like a decent guy until we discover that he’s cheating on his wife & when we find out who he’s cheating with, it makes him even more unlikable (& a cringing little prick for staying with the girlfriend) Gene introduces this less-than-half-his-age woman to his grown son. “Boy, dad,” the son says, “she’s young enough to start another family with!” Then in the next sentence bemoans the fact that ‘mom’s having a rough time and is being forced to sell the house.’
Not only are these sleazy jerks hard to take, their offspring are pathetic and heartless as well..
Gene laments how he misses ‘$500 lunches & $3,000 hotel suites’... Yeah, me too... A**hole.
Meanwhile, Bobby is attending job interviews with the swagger of the guy who is actually doing the hiring; “I was making $120,000 at GTX, but I’d be willing to start for $110,000 as long as there are bonus clauses involved.”
The day after Bobby’s $30,000 severance package runs out he sells his Porsche (& we’re supposed to get teary-eyed over this?) His son has to sell his X box – How does someone making $120,000 a year not have enough in the bank to afford a game for his kid? Shortly after this, Bobby & his family move in with his mother & father – I mean, holy crap, how much does a round of golf cost these days?
Phil is the only nice guy in this mess, but he becomes a bitter drunk, thus turning him into a rather depressing character.
The only redeeming character is Kevin Costner as Bobby’s brother-in-law; a carpenter that is hard on the outside but with a soft, marshmallow center.
Being fired is a very humbling experience but it takes Bobby a long time to finally realize that he isn’t the greatest thing since 2-ply toilet paper so that even when he does turn the corner and starts becoming ‘human’, I still didn’t feel happy for him. I was glad that he finally wised up, but still felt that underneath it all was a jerk waiting to pounce yet again...