The Company Men is a pretty good movie, a stellar cast and it shows, good writing and fleshed out characters, its a good watch.
But, and heres the bone I gotta pick, I had a hard time watching this movie and not being all like "Boohoo, I have to sell my GIANT house, I have to get rid of my PORSCHE, how dare they offer me an $80k job, when I used to make 160k!" This movie struck me more as the ridiculous sense of entitlement that some of the upper class people have. Like, its not a tragedy until some rich people lose their jobs. You know, broke as blue collar and minimum wage people just expect to be screwed. Oh, and they don't always have parents they can move in with, a brother-in-law that gives you a job on a construction site, that your ridiculously unqualified for, paying more then an apprentice of the same experience.
Ben Affleck does a great job, he nails the character, how much it sticks in his craw to have to eat humble pie and lower himself to, shock-horror, manual labor! Unforunantly thats not a likable character for me, probably from my background, but it is a great performance, none-the-less. I tell you who stands out, Rosemarie DeWitt's character of Maggie, Bobby's wife. She is the highlight for me, she's smart and sensitive, not getting on his back and accepting that, yes, the dude is gonna feel like crap after being laid off, because arrogant guys like that look in the mirror and see not themselves, but their bloody Porsche, house and job title staring back. But I kept on just thinking, man, this guy don't know how lucky his is having the great wife! She's the hero of this movie, she keeps him going, keeps the family together, basically gets him the construction job with her brother and supports him the whole time he's looking for work. (Not to mention being pretty damn hot as well, in a good way, not in a corporate wife way like Tommy Lee's character's wife.)
The upswing is the message at the end, its resolves it nice enough and leaves you feeling like 'oh that nice'. But one thing, and I guess it would make for one depressing arse movie, but these blue collar/min wagers, for them, it's not a year long chapter in their life where they get kicked in the nuts. No no, most people, flop from ball crushing to ball crushing, never making it above the bracket their parents birthed them into, never getting ahead with no safety net.
Look, I recommend watching this movie, it's well done, a lot better than most of the junk that hits the screen. But watch it for the awesome wife who holds her family together after her douchey suit-of-a-husband gets fired, keeps her sense of humour and is just an all round lovely gal! Thats why you should watch this movie.
But, and heres the bone I gotta pick, I had a hard time watching this movie and not being all like "Boohoo, I have to sell my GIANT house, I have to get rid of my PORSCHE, how dare they offer me an $80k job, when I used to make 160k!" This movie struck me more as the ridiculous sense of entitlement that some of the upper class people have. Like, its not a tragedy until some rich people lose their jobs. You know, broke as blue collar and minimum wage people just expect to be screwed. Oh, and they don't always have parents they can move in with, a brother-in-law that gives you a job on a construction site, that your ridiculously unqualified for, paying more then an apprentice of the same experience.
Ben Affleck does a great job, he nails the character, how much it sticks in his craw to have to eat humble pie and lower himself to, shock-horror, manual labor! Unforunantly thats not a likable character for me, probably from my background, but it is a great performance, none-the-less. I tell you who stands out, Rosemarie DeWitt's character of Maggie, Bobby's wife. She is the highlight for me, she's smart and sensitive, not getting on his back and accepting that, yes, the dude is gonna feel like crap after being laid off, because arrogant guys like that look in the mirror and see not themselves, but their bloody Porsche, house and job title staring back. But I kept on just thinking, man, this guy don't know how lucky his is having the great wife! She's the hero of this movie, she keeps him going, keeps the family together, basically gets him the construction job with her brother and supports him the whole time he's looking for work. (Not to mention being pretty damn hot as well, in a good way, not in a corporate wife way like Tommy Lee's character's wife.)
The upswing is the message at the end, its resolves it nice enough and leaves you feeling like 'oh that nice'. But one thing, and I guess it would make for one depressing arse movie, but these blue collar/min wagers, for them, it's not a year long chapter in their life where they get kicked in the nuts. No no, most people, flop from ball crushing to ball crushing, never making it above the bracket their parents birthed them into, never getting ahead with no safety net.
Look, I recommend watching this movie, it's well done, a lot better than most of the junk that hits the screen. But watch it for the awesome wife who holds her family together after her douchey suit-of-a-husband gets fired, keeps her sense of humour and is just an all round lovely gal! Thats why you should watch this movie.