The best way to emotionally engage an audience is to depict a topic that cuts right into the lives of those watching. The filmmaker can choose from a myriad of methods to ensure this response. One tried and true way it to base the film on a current hot topic in the news especially if that them is the basis of national controversy. The perennial problem with infusing current events into a movie is the time lag inherent in a large studio where an idea for a film has to work its way through the arduous hierarchy of the studio where its merit is primarily based on projected financial return far more than the worth of the story. This is understandable since the film industry is fundamentally a business and investors have every right to expect a return. Fortunately many studios now contain a division that is mandated to locate and distribute independent films of worthwhile quality. One such Indy oriented distributor is The Weinstein Company and I have found the majority of the films they promote superior to much of what the big blockbuster divisions have to offer. By searching the independent film festivals they can locate movies that address more current topics by virtue of smaller budget and abbreviated shooting schedule. This allows films like the one considered here, ‘The Company Men’ to be seen by audiences while they subject matter is still topical. This story is the flip side of the American dream as men with good paying careers suddenly hear the word that slammed into our vocabulary infused with the power to make the working man cringe in terror; downsizing. We are a culture that likes to sugar coat the negative side of life with euphemisms. We seem to think that by making a word more palatable we can make people feel better. ‘Downsizing’ may be more politically correct but it still comes down to ‘You’re fired’ as in canned, here’s you pink slip, get out of here and no more money for you. No substitution in phrasing can lighten the impact of this manifestation of the economic downturn, yes, that’s yet another euphemism for the economy is in the toilet. This movie takes a headline we are all too familiar with and endeavors to humanize it by putting faces on the statistics. This is achieved by following three men would suddenly discover they are without a means to support themselves or their families.

The GTX Corporation was always a solid corporation with reasonable financial stability but in the last couple of years they have found themselves in the same predicament as an increasing number of American companies; fiscal victims to the drastic reversals in the general economy. Also like many of the companies affected by this recession or whatever the talking heads on the cable financial stations call it they are backed into a drastic course of action to preserve even a modicum of financial security; they have to lay off staff. The point of view of these circumstances is provided predominately through the eyes of one of the victims of employee redeployment; Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck). Ancillary vantage points are given through former long time employee, Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) a highly ranked executive who retained his position. Writer/Director John Wells attacks this subject with a well balanced and fairly presented view of this situation. Blame is hinted at within the context of the stories scope not the film does not digress into associating blame but kveps focused on the personalization of the issue. Much of his experience to date has been in television but not just any series filling a time slot. He has been behind or involved with some of the best constructed, emotionally powerful series in recent history including ‘The West Wing’, ‘E.R.’, ‘Southland’ and the recent HBO powerhouse ‘Shameless’. Several of these production, especially ‘Shameless’ looks at people in a financial crunch just trying to survive from one day to the next. This film looks at a different socio-economic group but many of the same underlying causes are at work. As executive producer on the TV series he had the proper overall perspective to movie into the role of filmmaker here. Making matters even more interesting is the movie uses a slice of one year in the lives of the subjects making the story even more immediate for many people who can look back over the same year and relate to the circumstances. In this tale of economic woe GTX was once a small, tightly run company that managed to grow during the time of economic boon. Now, as the economy has pulled back drastically the company finds itself unable to sustain anything more than bare minimal existence. To achieve this goal many long time employees are suddenly left without a job. Walker enjoyed the good life indicative of the upswing times. He drove a car that cost more than many spent on their homes and supported his wife Maggie (Rosemarie DeWitt), in a very enjoyable style. His savings and severance are hardly able to keep the walkers in any semblance of their former life style. Despite help in resume updating and employment advise there are far more people than jobs especially in the preferred salary range. To make ends meet he has to resort to installing dry wall when he can get it. Woodward worked his way up from the factory floor to the executive offices. Now the reality is no one is interested in hiring an executive in his sixties. Finally there is McClary, one of the co-founders of the company and presently second in command. Unlike his partner James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson) McClary remains idealistic actually caring about the human beings affected by decisions all too easily made at the top executive level.

This strength of this movie is in the humanity of its presentation. We have all read the reports and seen the statistics and the executives are rarely if ever shown in an empathic light. In this movie Walker was living far better them most but that only heightens the dramatic fall he experiences. The ranks of the unemployed have been swollen by former executive exactly like this. He holds something important in common with McClary. They both defined their internal view of their lives through their jobs. McClary had worked diligently for most of his life making the American dream transitioning from blue to white collar. After achieving this lauded goal his ultimate reward was to be summarily fired. The film also shows that not every top executive is greedy, heartless and callous.