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The Company Men

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Genre
  
Drama

Initial DVD release
  
June 7, 2011

Writer
  
Language
  
English

6.8/10
IMDb


Director
  
Music director
  
Duration
  

Country
  
United States

The Company Men movie poster

Release date
  
January 22, 2010 (2010-01-22) (Sundance)January 21, 2011 (2011-01-21) (US)

Cast
  
(Bobby Walker), (Gene McClary), (Phil Woodward), (Jack Dolan), (Sally Wilcox), (Maggie Walker)

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,
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,
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Tagline
  
In America, we give our lives to our jobs. It's time to take them back.

the company men trailer hd


The Company Men is an American drama movie, written and directed by John Wells. It features Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones.

Contents

The Company Men movie scenes

It premiered at the 26th Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2010 and had a one-week run in December 10, 2010 to be eligible for the year's Academy Awards. The movie was released commercially in the United States and Canada on January 21, 2011.

The Company Men movie scenes

Plot

The Company Men movie scenes

When the publicly held shipbuilding corporation Global Transportation Systems, or GTX, is downsized in the midst of the recession, many employees are fired, including Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck). Walker is a white-collar, corporate ladder-climbing employee with a six-figure salary, a wife, and a teenage son and younger daughter.

The Company Men movie scenes

Walker gets outplacement services from GTX but, without success, gradually loses luxuries such as his country club membership and his Porsche. He finally resorts to selling his expensive house (with a large mortgage) and moves his family in with his parents. Ultimately, Walker is forced to take a manual labor job working for his blue-collar brother-in-law, Jack Dolan (Kevin Costner), installing drywall.

The Company Men movie scenes

Chief Financial Officer Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) challenges GTX CEO James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson)'s strategy of employee cutbacks and questions the ethics of spending money to build new corporate headquarters while laying off employees. Angry at being questioned by McClary, his longtime friend, college roommate, and first employee, Salinger asserts that the deep cuts are necessary to increase profits, to increase the stock price and discourage a rumoured hostile takeover of the company.

The Company Men movie scenes

Later, it is determined that an additional round of lay-offs is necessary. Senior manager Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper), who, over the course of 30 years, had risen from the factory floor to the corporate offices (a decidedly rare accomplishment), is also fired. When McClary demands that senior HR manager Sally Wilcox (Maria Bello), who is also his mistress, rehire Woodward immediately, she tells him that he, too, is being fired.

The Company Men movie scenes

Woodward's life quickly falls apart as employer after employer tells him he is either too old to start a new career, or too old to do jobs that those half his age find difficult. At his wife's request, Woodward goes out every morning as usual with his briefcase to keep his situation secret from the neighbors, but he cannot do anything to abate his mounting bills or his daughter's impending college tuition bill. Frustrated and depressed, he commits suicide in his garage by carbon-monoxide poisoning.

The Company Men movie scenes

Despite McClary's anger, he has become even wealthier as a shareholder of the firm (the value of his GTX stock options increases due to the company's downsizing), but he feels guilty about his company ruining so many lives and, instead, would rather put people to work. Feeling the need for a change, he leaves his wife and starts his own business. Walker is the first person he hires.

Walker arrives at the bare offices to help start a new business composed of many former GTX employees.

Cast

  • Ben Affleck as Bobby Walker
  • Tommy Lee Jones as Gene McClary
  • Chris Cooper as Phil Woodward
  • Kevin Costner as Jack Dolan
  • Rosemarie DeWitt as Maggie Walker
  • Maria Bello as Sally Wilcox
  • Craig T. Nelson as James Salinger
  • Eamonn Walker as Danny
  • Nancy Villone as Diane Lindstrom
  • Tom Kemp as Conal Doherty
  • Dana Eskelson as Diedre Dolan
  • Patricia Kalember as Cynthia McClary
  • Cady Huffman as Joanna
  • Anthony O'Leary as Drew Walker
  • Angela Rezza as Carson Walker
  • Kent Shocknek as Herb Rittenour
  • Tonye Patano as Joyce Robertson
  • Kathy Harum as Karen
  • Lance Greene as Dick Landry
  • Maryann Plunkett as Lorna
  • Production

    The Company Men is directed by John Wells in his feature film debut. He also wrote the screenplay and produced the film. The project was first announced in January 2008 by the newly formed production company Berk/Lane Entertainment. In September 2008, actor Ben Affleck joined the cast. By March 2009, actors Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones joined the cast. Production began the following month in Boston, Massachusetts. It completed in June 2009. Partial filming for the production occurred in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston and also in the Boston suburbs of Burlington, Wellesley, Framingham, Marblehead, and the Quincy shipyard.

    Release

    The Company Men had its world premiere at the 26th Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2010. The film was purchased by The Weinstein Company, which committed to print and advertising commitment and a theatrical release in the United States and Canada in a mid-seven figure deal.

    The film had a minimal release in Los Angeles and New York City on December 10, 2010. The release lasted a week to become eligible for nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards. It had a limited release in 106 theaters in the United States and Canada on January 21, 2011.

    Critical reception

    The Company Men has received generally positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 67% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 162 reviews, with an average score of 6.4/10. The website's consensus reads, "It might be hard for most viewers to identify with The Company Men's well-heeled protagonists, but writer/director John Wells uses their plight to make universally resonant points — and gets the most out of his excellent cast." On Metacritic, the film achieved an average score of 69 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

    Many critics praised the film for telling a story that reflects the economic climate of the United States in the first decade of the 2000s. Rex Reed of The New York Observer stated the film "does a piercing job of making you feel the dehumanizing effects that losing a job can have on grown men, but it's more truthful and devastating than that." Stephen Holden of The New York Times also notes parallels between the 2009 film Up in the Air and praised the performances from Affleck, Jones and Cooper. Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips praised the cast, but criticized the story, saying that the actual status of the economic climate "demands a tougher, gutsier script."

    The film was named one of the best films of 2010 by David Denby of The New Yorker.

    References

    The Company Men Wikipedia
    The Company Men IMDbThe Company Men Rotten TomatoesThe Company Men Roger EbertThe Company Men MetacriticThe Company Men themoviedb.org