Company Man

This is a VERY funny movie, that owes a great deal to Woody Allen. It's kind of like "Bananas", 30 years later and badly gone to seed. Who cares if the premise is absurd and the movie is episodic, there's some hilarious material here, and stars like Sigourney Weaver, Woody Allen, John Turturro and others are very funny. Sometimes it's a bit like a prolonged SNL skit, with the whole grammar teacher bit, but there is always another laugh around the corner. All this said, the film was a bit of a disappointment in retrospect, and does not live up to its potential. It's almost like they ran out of money and cut some corners while making it. It is also fairly short, and it appears that pieces of some scenes that may have been cut from the film are actually shown during the credits. Lightweight, yet nowhere near as bad as some reviewers are saying.

We weren't too far into COMPANY MAN when we paused it and started discussing whether or not to bail and move on to something else. We decided to give it just a few more minutes. Next thing you know, there's Woody Allen (!) on the screen and, before we had time to get over the surprise, we were laughing. Up until that point, the comedy had been labored and the jokes obvious. After Mr. Allen's appearance, the comedy remained labored, the jokes remained obvious, but for some reason I haven't been able to figure, much of it became very funny.

I can't speak for my co-habitant (who professed not to like it much at all, but laughed almost as much as I did); maybe my mood just lightened; maybe I just suddenly accepted that this was broad, anything-for-a-laugh burlesque; maybe it was the gin and tonic I mixed for myself while we were deciding if we should finish the silly thing. Who cares? It simply began scoring well on my "laugh out loud scale," and I relaxed and enjoyed.

I don't mean to mislead. COMPANY MAN is wildly uneven, and there is at least as much chaff as wheat. Think of it in the same way as you would an episode of the original "SNL:" what you're seeing at a given moment may be forced and tiresome, but wait a few, and something funny (however cheap it might be) is just around the corner.

If you see this movie, and decide that I or any of the other commenters here who thought it was funny (or should that be whom?) are out of our minds, believe me, I do understand.

Maybe you just have to be in the right mood.

Upon reading the description on the back of the video box, I immediately thought of the classic "The In-Laws" with Peter Faulk & Alan Arkin. Company Man turned out be more of an Austin Powers or Top Secret, instead.

Perhaps it was not a cinematic masterpiece. It was fun to watch, though, and gave me several really good belly laughs -- such as the "real" secret behind Gorbichev's alleged birthmark!

The plot is silly & "quirky," as some have noted, but it had a nice feel to it. Overall, I would call it a good little film.

This movie, as underdistributed as it has been, should be picked up wherever you can find it.

All you need to enjoy this movie is an I.Q. and a sense of humor. If either of the aforementioned are lacking you will probably agree with the "Don't watch this movie" reviewer.

Woody Allen has some classic lines in this film.

ALSO, the plot is not MUCH sillier than the ACTUAL Bay of Pigs incident.

This movie is pretty funny if you don't want to think too much. Yes, the movie doesn't really have a consistent plot and is mainly divided up into different segments, but the movie is still hilarious, and Douglas McGrath does an excellent job as the geek who the government assigns to a dangerous mission. Oops, sorry. WHOM the government assigns to a dangerous mission.

Anyway, don't expect any underlying meaning or important plot points in this movie. Just expect to laugh.