Company Man

A snowstorm was coming. Anticipating a snowbound weekend I grabbed this and several other unfamiliar titles from the library shelf. I chose this one because I liked several of the cast members and it sounded like it had some promise. I was right - it had some promise. Unfortunately it never delivered more than a few moments. The uncredited Woody Allen may have demanded his name be removed. A few of his scenes were among those that delivered. Dennis Leary's scenes delivered most frequently and Alan Cumming hit the mark about half the time. I was so disappointed by John Turturro and Sigourney Weaver. Perhaps it is because they are so closely wrapped around the character played by Douglas McGrath. I don't know if it is the basic premise (english teacher with all consuming dream to rid the world of bad grammar turned CIA agent) or just his ability to deliver it. I suspect both. I grew annoyed with the premise and in between "comic facial expression here" he seemed to have a cardboard appearance.

If we had been snowbound for a month we would not have watched this again. As I review Sigourney Weaver's and John Turturro's previous films, I know they can be SO much better but perhaps if you're in a dog you just have to act like one. I don't know why everyone associated with this film said yes. Were they that bored, broke, desperate, owed someone a favor, being blackmailed? The only person I can see who must have been happy was Douglas Mcgrath - having been given the starring role in a picture. I hope he enjoyed it because I doubt he will be given another.

In the 60's, Alan Quimp (Douglas McGrath) is a school teacher of English grammar and married with the very demanding woman Daisy Quimp (Sigourney Weaver). In order to avoid the constant mockery in Daisy's family, Alan says that he is a secret CIA agent. Daisy tells everybody, the CIA acknowledges the lie, but due to a coincidence, Alan has just helped and hidden the professional Russian dancer Petrov (Ryan Phillippe) who wanted to leave Russia. The CIA decides to hire Alan as an agent, to get the credits of bringing Petrov to USA, and immediately decides to send him to a very calm place, Cuba. Again due to a fortunate coincidence, Alan disclosures the identity of a double agent (Dennis Leary). Then, Fidel Castro (Anthony LaPaglia) makes the revolution and deposes Fulgêncio Batista (Alan Cumming). With the support of the former CIA agent in Cuba Lowther (Woody Allen) and Croker Johnson (John Turturro), Alan tries unsuccessfully to eliminate Fidel. In the end, he is sent to another quiet place (Vietnam). This movie is one of the most funny I have recently seen. The constellation of excellent actors and actresses is amazing. The story, a hilarious joke with the contemporary history of Cuba and USA, is delicious. Only the character of John Turturro disappoints a little bit, but when Woody Allen appears in scene, there are fantastic ironic dialogs. All the cast is excellent and wonderful, but Woody Allen is splendorous, as usual, with the best lines. I can not understand why this movie is so underrated in IMDB. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `Um Agente Como A Gente' (`An Agent Like Us')

Obs: There is a joke in the Brazilian title that is not possible to explain to those not familiarized with Portuguese.

Did you know you could get a double agent to confess merely by spending the day correcting his grammar? Neither did I, until I saw this movie.

Douglas McGrath (who also co-wrote and co-directed) is Allen Quimp (yup, rhymes with "wimp"), a nerdy high-school grammar - and sometimes driver's ed - teacher in 1950's America. His over-achieving family think he's a loser and don't understand his all-consuming dream to rid the world of bad grammar. So, one day he tells his father-in-law a little white lie: he's really an agent with the CIA. Pretty soon the whole community knows, including a visiting Russian ballet star (Ryan Phillipe), who wants to defect- to Quimp! One thing leads to another, and the CIA ends up really recruiting Quimp and sending him to Cuba, where he roots out the double agent, becomes involved in several plots to assassinate (or at least humiliate) Castro, and becomes a DJ, playing songs that the CIA take as a coded request to invade the Bay of Pigs.

Never quite "sidesplittingly funny," as the back of the box boasts, but mildly amusing and watchable, with the "mongoose in my shorts" bit being probably the funniest scene in the movie; coming in at a close second is Alan Cumming's rendition of "Diamonds Are a Boy's Best Friend" (don't ask!).

Worth watching mainly for the performances. McGrath is likable as the clueless Quimp; Sigourney Weaver is perfect as Quimp's over-bearing and social-climbing wife. Alan Cumming doesn't seem to have much to do in his scenes, but makes the most of them, amusingly bringing to life his "I-can't-believe-this-guy-was-a-Cuban-dictator" character. John Turturro's character is easily the funniest - an agent who's gone a bit around-the-bend and become a raving lunatic bent on assassinating Fidel Castro- played by Anthony LaPaglia, who wins the "most unlikely casting" prize- which is not to say it wasn't a good choice! Amusing and likable, but never hilarious. This one goes somewhere in the grey area between C+ and B-. (Or two and a quarter stars out of four.)

Douglas McGrath leads an all star cast in this film.

The film is set in the early 60's. McGrath plays Alan Quimp, a grammar school teacher who makes up that he is in the CIA so that his wife will stop hassling him about getting another job. He then ends up helping a Russian ballet dancer defect from the Soviet Union and then is sent to Cuba to find "Agent X" who the CIA have been looking for for over 2 years. The story goes on from there when Agent X is found.

This is a quirky, constant, light hearted film with some funny bits. I loved the fact that it has an all star cast. Woody Allen is very funny. Best to watch a second time to appreciate it more. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but I personally enjoyed it.

7/10.

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.