The Company Men (Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Craig T. Nelson, Maria Bello) – An all-star cast creates a cautionary tale about how corporate America tosses aside people to maintain its profits in this dark saga. A conglomerate dumps its shipbuilding business and more, laying off executives across the board without a second thought. From the founding chief financial officer (Tommy Lee Jones) and his closest associate (Chris Cooper) to its sales honcho (Ben Affleck), no one is spared. Their families, of course, are tremendously impacted as well in very real ways as we see in selected vignettes. The layoffs sap their energy, their confidence and their finances all so that the CEO (Craig T. Nelson) can still hold his junkets and cocktail parties, fly his jets, and keep shareholders happy. It is a condensation of today’s economic climate from the point of view of people nearer the top than the bottom. In that sense, it is a different take on layoffs than Up In The Air but the point is the same: Things are seriously messed up in the corporate world.
This is not a happy hour-and-45 minutes but it is a good character study where you’ll be saying: “But for the grace of God go I.” The film is only in limited release so you might have to wait for pay-for-view or Netflix but this is well acted from top to bottom, including Ben Affleck (of whom I am not normally a fan). Tommy Lee Jones’ performance is stunning and somber though ultimately providing the audience with some hope. If you want to see a serious film with exceptional acting and direction, I recommend The Company Men.