'The Company Men'

'The Company Men' (R) (3 stars)

Written and Directed by John Wells
Starring: Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner,
Rosemarie DeWitt, Maria Bello, Craig T. Nelsen

"Company Men" has one of the best casts you will ever find and a good writer and it gets the job done. It is not as hard hitting or powerful as it should be but it has a story that moves us just enough. The writer and director John Wells (TV's ER) needed to shed some of his television trappings but he does a good job here. When it is not wrapping up it's ending like it was a one hour television drama I liked this movie a lot. We follow three men but the main focus is on Bobby Walker who is a young sales executive with a wife and two kids. Bobby is played by Ben Affleck and he is very good here and we root for him. Bobby, with a host of others have been laid off by their company. This really upsets another chief executive played by Tommy Lee Jones. The third man who is about to be fired is played by Chris Cooper and his character has a lot of anger and when he gets fired a lot of shame. The movie does a good job of commenting on the state of jobs and our economy. I just wished that the material was a tad stronger like say "Up in the Air" which made a stronger statement on the economy.

The main reason I liked this movie was because of the Bobby character played by Affleck. The other two characters are wonderfully acted by Jones and Cooper but their material is a little weaker. I love Affleck, loved Rosemarie Dewitt as Bobby's wife, I loved the scenes involving the family. Those moments seem authentic, are touching and are the strongest moments. Part of that story detours into a wonderful new direction with a character played by Kevin Costner. Costner plays Jack Dolan who is Bobby's brother in law and he is in construction. Bobby and Jack don't get along but at some point Bobby has to beg Jack for a job. I love the scenes with Affleck and Costner and I love the construction scenes as they build a house. I had worked construction for so many years and this movie gets that part right. Costner is excellent here and I hope he continues this small supporting role path. He made me smile every time he was on screen.

This movie has some very provocative material and most of the time it is very compelling. I just wished that the material dealing with Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones was stronger. There are too many television type cliches and I knew where their story was going. I could kind of figure out what would happen to Bobby but his story is more emotional and stronger. "Company Men" tells a good story and we care about Bobby and his family. It has a cast to die for what with Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper. They are all fun to watch and the movie is entertaining and engrossing. I think that it could had delved deeper and that this was a movie that should have been made a few years back. I still think that "Company Men" gets the job done and I think it is important enough to see. Also the Ben Affleck and Kevin Costner scenes are top notch and that Rosemarie Dewitt and Affleck are very believable as husband and wife.