The Company Men
Encyclopedia
The Company Men is an American drama film written and directed by John Wells
. It premiered at the 26th Sundance Film Festival
on January 22, 2010 and had a one-week run in December 10, 2010 to be eligible for the year's Academy Awards. The film was commercially released in the United States and Canada on January 21, 2011.
plays an aggressive white-collar
corporate ladder climbing employee who, after losing his six-figure salary, gradually loses the trappings of his white-collar life (country club membership, Porsche, and finally his home) and ultimately has to take a job installing drywall with his blue-collar
brother-in-law, played by Kevin Costner
. Chris Cooper
plays a middle manager who has risen from the factory floors to the corporate offices. He also loses his six-figure salary job, but because of his age is finding himself unemployable. The pressures on the two men (both of whom had comfortable, but working poor
lifestyles, and have children to support) grow as weeks and months pass by with no prospects of employment. On the other side of the coin, the cushy lives of executive management are shown with both Tommy Lee Jones
and Craig T. Nelson
playing characters who suffer no misfortune during the trying times, until Jones' character is served his walking papers. Maria Bello
plays the senior HR
manager who delivers the bad news to staff whose jobs are cut. Jones is clearly in a much more comfortable position after being fired, and begins seemingly a form of retirement, seeking no other employment. Yet the effect of the downsizing upon others, along with own values favoring hard work, weigh on his conscience.
in his feature film debut. He also wrote the screenplay and produced the film. The project was first announced in January 2008 by the newly-formed production company Berk/Lane Entertainment. In September 2008, actor Ben Affleck
joined the cast. By March 2009, actors Kevin Costner
and Tommy Lee Jones
joined the cast. Production began the following month in Boston
, Massachusetts
. It completed in June 2009. Partial filming for the production occurred in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston and also in the Boston suburbs of Wellesley
, Framingham, and the Quincy shipyard.
on January 26, 2010. The film was purchased by The Weinstein Company
, which committed to print and advertising commitment and a theatrical release in the United States and Canada in a mid-seven figure deal.
The film had a minimal release in Los Angeles and New York City on December 10, 2010. The release lasted a week to become eligible for nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards
. It had a limited release in 106 theaters in the United States and Canada on January 21, 2011.
reports that 74% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 67 reviews, with an average score of 7/10.
Many critics praised the film for telling a story that reflects the economic climate of the United States in the early 2000s. Rex Reed
of The New York Observer cited the film "does a piercing job of making you feel the dehumanizing effects that losing a job can have on grown men, but it's more truthful and devastating than that." Stephen Holden
of The New York Times
also notes parallels between the 2009 film Up in the Air
and cites the effectiveness of the performances from Ben Affleck
, Tommy Lee Jones
and Chris Cooper
. Chicago Tribune
s Michael Phillips
, however, praised the cast, but criticized the story, saying that the actual status of the economic climate "demands a tougher, gutsier script."
The film was named one of the best films of 2010 by David Denby
of The New Yorker
.
John Wells (TV producer)
John Marcum Wells is an American theater and television producer, writer and director. He is best known for his role as executive producer and show runner of the television series ER, Third Watch, and The West Wing. His company, John Wells Productions, is currently based at Warner Bros. studios in...
. It premiered at the 26th Sundance Film Festival
26th Sundance Film Festival
The 26th annual Sundance Film Festival was held from January 21, 2010 until January 31, 2010 in Park City, Utah.-Award winners:*Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - Restrepo*Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic - Winter's Bone...
on January 22, 2010 and had a one-week run in December 10, 2010 to be eligible for the year's Academy Awards. The film was commercially released in the United States and Canada on January 21, 2011.
Synopsis
The film, set in and around Boston, Massachusetts, analyzes the effects of corporate downsizing. Ben AffleckBen Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
plays an aggressive white-collar
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
corporate ladder climbing employee who, after losing his six-figure salary, gradually loses the trappings of his white-collar life (country club membership, Porsche, and finally his home) and ultimately has to take a job installing drywall with his blue-collar
Blue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
brother-in-law, played by Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
. Chris Cooper
Chris Cooper (actor)
Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and...
plays a middle manager who has risen from the factory floors to the corporate offices. He also loses his six-figure salary job, but because of his age is finding himself unemployable. The pressures on the two men (both of whom had comfortable, but working poor
Working poor
- Definition in the United States :There are several popular definitions of "working poor" in the United States. According to the US Department of Labor, the working poor "are persons who spent at least 27 weeks [in the past year] in the labor force , but whose incomes fell below the official...
lifestyles, and have children to support) grow as weeks and months pass by with no prospects of employment. On the other side of the coin, the cushy lives of executive management are shown with both Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
and Craig T. Nelson
Craig T. Nelson
Craig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...
playing characters who suffer no misfortune during the trying times, until Jones' character is served his walking papers. Maria Bello
Maria Bello
Maria Elena Bello is an American actress and singer known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Permanent Midnight, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, Payback, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For television she is known for her role as Dr...
plays the senior HR
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
manager who delivers the bad news to staff whose jobs are cut. Jones is clearly in a much more comfortable position after being fired, and begins seemingly a form of retirement, seeking no other employment. Yet the effect of the downsizing upon others, along with own values favoring hard work, weigh on his conscience.
Cast
- Ben AffleckBen AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
as Bobby Walker - Kevin CostnerKevin CostnerKevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
as Jack Dolan - Chris CooperChris Cooper (actor)Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and...
as Phil Woodward - Tommy Lee JonesTommy Lee JonesTommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
as Gene McClary - Rosemarie DeWittRosemarie DeWittRosemarie DeWitt is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series Standoff, co-starring her now husband Ron Livingston, from 2006 through 2007, and played Charmaine Craine on Showtime's acclaimed original series, United States of Tara...
as Maggie Walker - Maria BelloMaria BelloMaria Elena Bello is an American actress and singer known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Permanent Midnight, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, Payback, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For television she is known for her role as Dr...
as Sally Wilcox - Craig T. NelsonCraig T. NelsonCraig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...
as James Salinger - Nancy Villone as Diane Lindstrom
- Tom Kemp as Conal Doherty
- Dana EskelsonDana EskelsonDana Erika Eskelson is an American television, film, and theatre actress.-Filmography:*Singles *Exiled: A Law & Order Movie *Cold Creek Manor *The Brave One -TV series:...
as Diedre Dolan - Patricia KalemberPatricia KalemberPatricia Kathryn Kalember is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Georgiana "Georgie" Reed Whitsig on the NBC drama Sisters , Susannah Hart Shepherd on the popular 1980s television show Thirtysomething and as Judge Karen Taten on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit .- Life and...
as Cynthia McClary - Anthony O'Leary as Drew Walker
- Cady HuffmanCady HuffmanCatherine Elizabeth “Cady” Huffman is a Tony Award-winning American actress.-Early life:Huffman was born in Santa Barbara, California to Lorayne, a pre-school assistant director turned realtor, and Clifford Huffman, an attorney...
as Joanna - John DomanJohn DomanJohn Doman is an American actor best known for playing Deputy Police Commissioner William Rawls on HBO series The Wire from 2002 to 2008 and Colonel Edward Galson on Oz in 2001....
as Dysart - Angela Rezza as Carson Walker
- Kent ShocknekKent ShocknekKent Shocknek is Southern California's longest-running television news morning news anchor. He also appears in cameo roles in movies and television dramas. On radio, Shocknek has narrated a daily commentary in Los Angeles; and hosted a nationally syndicated entertainment program...
as Herb Rittenour - Tonye PatanoTonye PatanoTonye Patano is an American actress. She is most known for portraying Heylia James on the American TV show Weeds.She has appeared in television shows such as Law & Order, Sex and the City, Monk and Third Watch...
as Joyce Robertson - Kathy Harum as Karen
- Lance GreeneLance Greene- Career :Greene recently acted in John Wells opposite Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones and he also produced numerous theater and film productions in New York City and Boston. He starred as Billy O’Toole in On Broadway, an independent film shot in Boston, acting opposite Mike O’Malley, Joey...
as Dick Landry
Production
The Company Men is directed by John WellsJohn Wells (TV producer)
John Marcum Wells is an American theater and television producer, writer and director. He is best known for his role as executive producer and show runner of the television series ER, Third Watch, and The West Wing. His company, John Wells Productions, is currently based at Warner Bros. studios in...
in his feature film debut. He also wrote the screenplay and produced the film. The project was first announced in January 2008 by the newly-formed production company Berk/Lane Entertainment. In September 2008, actor Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
joined the cast. By March 2009, actors Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
and Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
joined the cast. Production began the following month in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It completed in June 2009. Partial filming for the production occurred in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston and also in the Boston suburbs of Wellesley
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census.It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College...
, Framingham, and the Quincy shipyard.
Release
The Company Men had its world premiere at the 26th Sundance Film Festival26th Sundance Film Festival
The 26th annual Sundance Film Festival was held from January 21, 2010 until January 31, 2010 in Park City, Utah.-Award winners:*Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - Restrepo*Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic - Winter's Bone...
on January 26, 2010. The film was purchased by The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
, which committed to print and advertising commitment and a theatrical release in the United States and Canada in a mid-seven figure deal.
The film had a minimal release in Los Angeles and New York City on December 10, 2010. The release lasted a week to become eligible for nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards
83rd Academy Awards
The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2010 and took place February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards ...
. It had a limited release in 106 theaters in the United States and Canada on January 21, 2011.
Critical reception
The Company Men has received generally positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 74% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 67 reviews, with an average score of 7/10.
Many critics praised the film for telling a story that reflects the economic climate of the United States in the early 2000s. Rex Reed
Rex Reed
Rex Taylor Reed is an American film critic and former co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for The New York Observer.-Life and career:...
of The New York Observer cited the film "does a piercing job of making you feel the dehumanizing effects that losing a job can have on grown men, but it's more truthful and devastating than that." Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
also notes parallels between the 2009 film Up in the Air
Up in the Air (film)
Up in the Air is a 2009 American comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and co-written by Reitman and Sheldon Turner. It is a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name, written by Walter Kirn. The story is about a corporate downsizer Ryan Bingham and his travels...
and cites the effectiveness of the performances from Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
, Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
and Chris Cooper
Chris Cooper (actor)
Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and...
. Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
s Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips (critic)
Michael Phillips is a film critic for the Chicago Tribune newspaper. Previously he was the drama critic of the Tribune; the Los Angeles Times; the St. Paul Pioneer Press; the San Diego Union-Tribune; and the Dallas Times Herald....
, however, praised the cast, but criticized the story, saying that the actual status of the economic climate "demands a tougher, gutsier script."
The film was named one of the best films of 2010 by David Denby
David Denby (film critic)
David Denby is an American journalist, best known as a film critic for The New Yorker magazine.-Background and education:Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B.A...
of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
.