What I Watched -- The Company Men

Somehow, The Company Men is one of those movies that sort of flew under my radar.  I had heard of it, but only in passing, and I don't think I read any reviews or the like.  And I'm not sure how all that happened, because it has quite and impressive cast, and usually such movies are all over the place.  Maybe the reason was because, while all of the performances were good, none of them were Oscar-worthy.  Just generally a good ensemble.

Said cast members include Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, and Tommy Lee Jones as the poor guys who lose their jobs.  Ben Affleck has done his share of terrible movies (Gigli, Phantoms, Daddy and Them - full disclosure: I did not see any of these movies, but I'm assuming they're bad), but also some darn good ones (The Town, Dogma, and of course Good Will Hunting). Chris Cooper has been on quite a run in the last several years, with hits including The Bourne Identity and Supremacy, Seabiscuit, Capote, Syriana, and (also) The  Town.  And then there's Tommy Lee Jones.  Holy hell, he's a good actor.  The Fugitive, JFK, In the Valley of Elah, No Country for Old Men...  Need I go on?  In his review of Elah, Roger Ebert ponders why TLJ is so good: "Look at the lines around his eyes.  He looks concerned, under pressure from himself, a man who has felt pain.  Look at his face.  It seems to conceal hurtful emotion.  He doesn't smile a lot, but when he does, it's like the clouds are lifting.  Listen to his voice, filled with authority and hard experience.  Notice when he speaks that he passes words out as if they were money he can't afford."

And those are just the three mains!  There's also Kevin Costner, who I think is actually my favorite character in the movie.  So, here's the setup.  The three above play Bobby, Phil, and Gene, respectively (and from lowest to highest in order of seniority).  All three lose their jobs.  Bobby's wife Maggie (the lovely Rosemarie DeWitt) comes from a working class family, and her brother Jack (Costner), who's just the right mix of asshole and good guy, offers Bobby some carpentry work to help him through.  Also stars Craig T "Coach" Nelson as the bossman and Maria Bello (another lovely) as the not-quite-universally hated HR employee tasked with handling the firings.

I like that these three guys - Gene most obviously, but each in his own way - is a contradiction.  Gene is totally on the straight and narrow at work, wants to do the ethical thing, the right thing, even if it isn't best for the company.  But - MINOR SPOILER ALERT - he's cheating on his wife.  Bobby has the best, most stable home life, but is obsessed with outward appearances.  Phil is the tough guy who may be the most soft-hearted.

Bottom line: some of this movie is roses and unicorns, some is not.  I like that.  I didn't know what to expect when I started watching it, and I like that too.  But what I liked most of all was that I was pleasantly surprised.