Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Starz/Anchor Bay – 104 minutes – 2010 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 1.78:1 – DTS 5.1 Audio Mix

The American economy is suffering, and at this time there is no relief in sight. Everyday we see stories in the news about families losing their homes because people have loss their jobs and can’t get themselves back on track because companies have downsized. The stories usually focus on the lower and middle classes of America, but even the households making over $150,000 a year have also taken a hit. This is the topic that the movie The Company Men focuses on. If you’re a person who only made $30,000 a year and lost your job, you probably could care less if some Jr. CEO making four-times more lost his gig, but the film tries to show how both ends are effected. The Company Men comes to Blu-ray from Starz/Anchor Bay attempting to give a look at the sign of the times.

THE MOVIE

Ben Affleck plays Bobby Walker, a very well paid businessman who is living the American dream, with a huge house, expensive suits, and a fancy foreign sports car. He works for a powerhouse company called Global Transportation Systems (GTX) that in the end cares more about its stock market placement than the actual people who work for the company. One day Bobby comes to work and he’s simply told he is fired, but the company also kicks various other high profile people onto the street including two of the oldest company men who helped build the company from the ground up, Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones).

These men who are used to limo rides, five star hotels and caviar fall into turmoil and have to hit the streets to find a new job to maintain their lifestyles. For Bobby, who is younger, he thinks his chances are better at landing a new gig, but even when agreeing to settle for a major decrease in salary, he has no luck. To make a few dollars he has to take a job fixing homes with is brother-in-law Jack (Kevin Costner), who is a contractor going through his own financial struggles.

Phil has it the hardest because he can’t believe the company he helped give life to have basically killed him off, and because of ageism he can’t even get pass the front desk of a company’s HR department. Gene, who is not going down without a fight, confronts his former CEO (Craig T. Nelson), who seems to be the only person benefiting from the company’s downsizing. He learns that in the bi business game, it’s not about who built what, or who your friends, it’s just about stock portfolios and keeping investors happy…Period.

This is the first feature film for writer/director JohnWells, who previously worked in TV on shows such as The West Wing, so he knows how to compose dramas with an ensemble cast. He chose wisely when selecting veteran actors such as Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper, who pull in great performances, as does Kevin Costner who has played the blue-collar role in various other films, so he has that character locked. Ben Affleck represents the over cocky and arrogant youngsters out there who have seen Wall Street way too many times and believe that they can walk on water, until one day they fall in and drown.

Though the film is slow in some places, and you may wonder why the older guys portrayed by Jones and Cooper didn’t have a stash of finances tied up in other sources that could have kept them afloat for a while longer, The Company Men is a solid production that is worth your attention. Though many people will never see the inside of an expensive home or own $100,000 car, this film does what is can to display that the recent crumpling economy effects all classes, from a person who works with their hands in a factory, to a person who wears $300 neckties everyday.

VIDEO

Offering a full 1080p image in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, this Blu-ray has a superb image with solid colors and sharp details. Bright scenes will jump out at you, displaying the finest attention to quality, right down to the patterns in the character’s neckties. Tommy Lee Jones, who has a very interesting face, has every line and mark visible as if you’re right up on him. Darker images show hints of grain, but the filtering smoothes it out to give in a more natural tone. This is a very well done transfer that displays the importance of cinematography in a film that has no CGI effects, and relies on characters and real world settings.

AUDIO

The Company Men provides a Dolby Digital DTS-HD 5.1audio mix that does the job well. This film is all about the dialogue, so hearing every single word in rich clarity is done effectively. Background ambiences such as office chatter, street noises, and just the sound of nature as people walk about is well toned. There are plenty of subtle moments, and your sound system will mainly only get to work its front speakers, but overall the audio mix is good.

EXTRAS

You shouldn’t expect much in the bonus material department. The only worthy feature is the audio commentary track.

Director and Writer John Wells provides a solo commentary track that goes deep into his inspiration for the writing the movie. He’s extremely passionate about the subject and has done his research to make the setting work. If you liked the film, this audio commentary will compliment it.

Making The Company Men runs about fifteen minutes and is a standard behind the scenes piece with interviews from casts and crew.

There are six deleted scenes, but the only one that stands out shows Chris Cooper’s character desperately attempting to get a job delivering pizzas, but he’s turned down.

An alternative ending is included, but it’s very odd because it’s just an entire sequence of the movie that was already used in the movie, but ends abruptly.

BOTTOM LINE

The Company Men may not be an exact reflection of the times, but with a solid cast and a well thought out script it does have strong moments. The Blu-ray offers an excellent picture and good sound, but is light on the bonus material. If you’re tired of watching movies about CGI superheroes and instead want to see a character drama for a change, give The Company Men a try.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 3.0

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 2.0

Bottom Line: 3.0