The Company Men

Is this really the nearest Hollywood comes to understanding the real world - and the economic 'downturn' ?

A bunch of more corporate, unsympathetic characters you could not hope to imagine but they are all forced to embark on a voyage of discovery by heartless, cost-cutting conglomerates who have the audacity to fire executives further up the chain.

Chris Cooper (normally brilliant) discovers that more elderly people may struggle to find employment in the workplace whilst Ben Affleck (not normally brilliant) is made to realise that people wear gloves at work, have to carry heavy things and don't even go out to lunch on their breaks. Tommy Lee Jones just looks surly and grouches a lot... though his millions of dollars of shares increase in value, thank goodness.

The huge house and top-of-the-range German cars are on the line though as times get truly 'slightly uncomfortable' but thankfully it's Afflecks' sons' X-Box that goes first and the awful step down to manual labour doesn't seem so bad when you can master the wielding of a nail-gun in five minutes flat.

Corporate America is often an ugly thing, and this trite, patronising offering is no exception. It is almost nauseating in its' attempt to extract some sort of audience feeling for these greedy, grasping corporate 'executives'.

Who cares ?

I don't know much about business, but that doesn't mean it's hard to appreciate a good business movie. Despite a few dumbed down bits, The Company Men, comes with a feeling of authenticity with some heart and decent performances from everybody. That is good enough for me.

In a hundred minutes, The Company Men gives us a small taste of what The recession did to American business. It does so in a way that favours character over making anti-corporate statements. The movie chooses to zoom in on the lives of three sales executives and how they deal with job loss.

I've never been in love with Ben Affleck, but when he wants to, he can show some professionalism. In The Company Men he does just that, proving capable of hitting all the emotional notes when necessary, something I feel he missed in his previous film the Town.

The Company Men is actually a rather sad movie. It is only a hundred minute in length, but it feels longer. There is a good amount of talk, but nothing ever feels too contrived, wasted or unnecessary. Is it a brilliant film? No, but I can safely recommend it.

"The Company Men" is one of those that really showcases what it's been like the last couple of years especially in the corporate world of how the layoffs and downsizing have affected many families and the lives of other people. It shows that it's tough when you fall down and that life is hard when you have to adjust economically really one has to rediscover their fate and way of living.

Set in Boston at the height of the economic crisis and collapse director John Wells paints a pretty and somewhat unpleasant picture of how the corporate world changes many lives by downsizing. It centers around the lives of three men who work at a corporate company GTX. And top sells leader Bobby Walker(Ben Affleck)all of a sudden one day is canned and let go as the company can't afford to pay his salary as demands and stocks fall along with the sales of GTX. Then next is a veteran manager Phil Woodward(Chris Cooper)a man who somewhat is cut in the back and let go in a harsh way. And this greatly affects the life of both it even drives Phil to a deadly depression. And Bobby's world is turned upside down as going from $120,000 a year to roughly $60,000 to maybe $80,000 is a big drop. As it affected Bobby's money world no more golf lessons, gone is the expensive car and maybe Patriot tickets.

Heartfelt and life changing is seeing Bobby take up working construction for his wife's brother(Kevin Costner)going from suit and tie to hard hat! The wild card and conflicted character in the movie is veteran GTX manager Gene McClary(Tommy Lee Jones)a man who's loyal yet hard headed for the company in the meantime deep down Gene knows what's going on at GTX is not right. Plus McClary is a very conflicted man he's stressed plus he's cheating on his wife with a company employee the sexy and elegant Sally Wilcox(Maria Bello).

During it all the trio of men feel the highs and lows of life and it's ever changing economic and social climates. Really it's a time to ponder and rediscover as it proves for both Bobby and Gene it's never late to start over even if it is less still it's a change and rediscovery of happiness. Overall good film that captures the reality of the corporate and economic recessions of the last few years it's so true of how companies do downsizing of their men which alters and changes lives forever.

Having been in these shoes, I appreciated this movie even more.

This is a solidly entertaining and believable film about professional men (and women) who lose their identities as they lose their jobs in corporate America economic decline.

Some folks rebound, others can't. I grew attached to the characters. Every performance was believable and tight.

I found myself rooting for success, even though it wasn't always in the cards.

The ending wrapped everything up in a tidy ball, which I like.

Bottom line: Solid entertainment with very few explosions.

Whether we like it or not the last couple of years have been incredibly tough, and TCM though not perfect at least tries to make an honest film about downsizing in corporate America.

We really really got this - we all know someone whose lost their home, their job, or just found that the money isn't there the way it was - and those who reviewed this and said the films doesn't work as the characters have still got it good just don't get the college payments, the mortgage, the fear of losing it all, and the horrendous amount of money it takes to maintain a life in the US now is astronomical - and TCM at least looks at this as no other film has in the past three years.

Solid performances from everyone and Affleck in particular echoing his roles in Man about Town or Jersey Girl does a solid job here as the man who has it all and then has nothing.

It it does try to record something which otherwise seems to be in danger of being swept under the carpet - this is a well-made film that rings true and for our money was actually one of the more memorable and yes, even moving, films of the year - it is accessible and a likable film.