DVD Reviews

The Company Men – DVD Review

By June L. Jun 8, 2011, 15:13 GMT

The story follows three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company. ...more

Loss of a job due to downsizing is unfortunately an everyday occurrence, and therefore one might suppose this to be a distasteful subject for a movie. The Company Men accurately chronicles the effects of such a loss on a group of corporate employees.

First the shock, then the denial, and finally the realization that life is forever changed is the pattern followed by everyone having to deal with job loss, It does not matter whether you are in a minimal wage job or at the top of the corporate ladder, the pain is the same. How the individual reacts to the problem is the focus of this excellent film.

In The Company Men, Ben Affleck plays Bobby Walker a six-figure salary employee with a large shipbuilding corporation. One day he gets a pink slip and he has to drive his Porsche to his expensive home and tell his wife. Maggie (Rosemarie DeWitt) is supportive and comforting and she immediately begins to search for ways for the family to cut their spending.

Bobby is in denial and doesn’t want her to do anything to change their lifestyle or to tell anyone what has happened. He thinks it is only a matter of a short period of time until he is back at work. He dutifully attends outplacement counseling and diligently searches for another job mirroring the one he has lost.

In the meantime we see the company going through more changes, losing more of its top people, but there is confusion among the “survivors” as to why such radical cutbacks are needed as the CEO played by Craig T. Nelson is building a fabulous new corporate headquarters.

Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper give fine performances as “company men” who hang on awhile longer, but eventually get fired as they disagree with the CEO’s ruthlessness. We follow their progress, seeing them in the beginning phases of the pattern, as Bobby is emerging on the other side.

With his acceptance of the reality of the situation, Bobby is able to sell possessions and home, move his family and accept a carpenter position working for his brother-in-law Jack (Kevin Costner.).

This is an impressive film, never over dramatizing the situations, but presenting the characters as individuals working through the confusion and pain of their loss.

The audience believes in Bobby as he tries to get back on his feet, and cheers for Maggie as she persistently steers him into a safe passage through their troubles. Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) has a different route for his journey, but yet again audiences will be intrigued and encouraged by what takes place as he deals with the problems.

Chris Cooper as Phil Woodward is the least able to modify and change, and becomes the most victimized individual whose life is threatened by the cutbacks. Understated and yet strong, with clever dialog and a veracity in emotional portrayals, The Company Men gives us the portrait of men acting as heroes in the face of corporate danger.

The Company Men DVD is presented on single disc with a variety of special features. Deleted scenes are included, as well as an alternate ending that is fascinating. The Resident Scientist and I could not decide which ending we preferred. A commentary with Writer/Director John Wells gives this solid film even greater dimension.