The Company Men (2010)

I'll tell you why so serious

Good concept, poorly executed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The story centers on a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company - and how that affects them, their families, and their communities. By far the best thing about this movie is easily Ben Affleck he has the most charisma and he is a down to earth person he tries to provide for his family but also for his son you know to have a future and keep his house everyone else in this movie was just OK you can't really feel anything for Tommy Lee Jones he cheats his wife and he's a pretty much wooden character the same goes for Chris Cooper and what the hell is Kevin Costner's role is in this film? But anyways the dramatic heft is in there when it's needed not a bad movie it just needed more good characters especially when every single actor is talented. Another thing that i haven't mentioned isn't it weird that Ben Affleck has played along side actors and actresses that played a villain, a person or a hero in DC and Marvel movies? for instance Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever, Kevin Costner in Man of Steel and BVS but also Chris Cooper in Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Greetings from Lithuania.By saying that "The Company Men" (2010) is a disturbing picture i don't mean it's a thriller of horror picture, although in some way you can find it a horror. Horror and disturbance comes from idea of loosing your job, no matter how good you are, loosing it is a frightening idea. you have a family, a house and everything build around the money you are receiving from your work, and the one day it's just goes boom. It the worst feeling you can have. Now this movie is a really good one. All actors did a great job, and especially Ben Affleck who absolutely carries the film. Tommy Lee Jones and especially Kevin Costner are very solid in their respective roles. This movie touched more that many dramas because it accurately reflects on modern times, of having, loosing your job and what comes after - this is a very 21th century story - more of reality actually. Overall, a very solid film, but be warned, when watching it you will definitely are going to imagine yourself in the place of these characters, and the feeling is not the most satisfying. i gave it 10/10 because this picture involved my from the first till the last second.

This film is a brutally accurate portrayal of a major social crisis, the gradual elimination of the middle class, closing and moving plants to low wage countries and ruthless business practices which are more about satisfying the stockholders than pleasing the customers. It's really very good and very graphic. But! Mainstream movies ultimately are made to attract audiences and make money. Nobody who has been laid off or who fears being laid off or "downsized" would want to see this. I'm retired and don't face those pressures any more. Yet even I was thoroughly depressed watching this film. It is grim, realistic, cruel stuff without a single humorous scene or funny line. That may make it a meaningful social document. But it also guarantees a box office flop.

John Wells' 2010 drama "The Company Men" came out at the right time it needed to come out…during the Great Recession. It's all about the effects of the Great Recession on the American people. As far as that aspect is concerned, "The Company Men" accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, inform us of its effects. Unfortunately, that's all it does well and what's worse, this film came out a little too late to truly make a huge impact on the audience. It doesn't help that a better film on the Great Recession called "Up in the Air" came out a year earlier. We follow three employees (Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper) who have been let go from the same corporation due to downsizing in the midst of the recession. One (Affleck) sees his life of luxury with his wife and kids deteriorate as a result of being let go and being unable to find jobs that suit his needs. It gets to the point where he might have to rely on his brother-in-law (Kevin Costner) to help him out. One (Jones) has been friends with the CEO (Craig T. Nelson) since the very beginning, but now finds this friendship challenged due to the CEO's inconsistent future plans. And the third one (Cooper) is severely struggling to find a new job due to his old age. This film basically follows the paths that these three take to get back to normal. "The Company Men" does its part at informing us of how harmful the Great Recession is to the lives of the American people. The story is told decently and maintains its focus on whom the story should be focusing on: the three main characters or at least the crucial people in each of their lives. While I wouldn't say that there were any standout performances in this picture that I could really praise, the actors do their best at taking their roles seriously and giving them the respect they deserve. The problem I had with "The Company Men" is that it's straight up boring. The characters we have to spend time with just feel bland and forgettable. There's no real complexity to their personalities and there's nothing unique about these people that I've seen in other movies. Ben Affleck's character comes to mind when naming a surprisingly one-dimensional storyline. While the story tackles relevant subject matter, it's executed in a predictable and unsurprising manner. Because the characters are dull, we're sort of watching something that keeps moving along but doesn't emotionally impact us in the slightest. We know exactly what will happen at least 10 seconds before it happens. We know what the outcomes for the characters and the future relationship between certain characters will be. We pretty much know how everything will pan out, so there's no real point in even watching this film if that's how we feel about it. "The Company Men" doesn't do anything awful besides having a predictable story and cardboard characters. If you'll settle for a film that informs at a relevant time, this does what it's designed to do. Otherwise, look elsewhere.