slightlymad22 Continuing my plan to watch every Kevin Costner movie in order, I come to 2010's Company Men Plot In A Paragraph: A year in the life of three men (Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper) trying to survive corporate downsizing at a major company, and how that affects them and their families.I will say from the off, I don't understand the hate that Affleck gets, as I usually enjoy his movies that vary in tone, style and subject matter drastically from Company Men, Armageddon, Argo, Reindeer Games, Dogma and Hollywoodland or the what I consider the under rated Jersey Girl (OK I may be on my own on that one lol) All different and I enjoy him in all of them. Tommy Lee Jones delivers his best performance in years and Chris Cooper is heartbreaking!! In a small role, Company Men features one of the best performances from the latter half of Kevin Costner's career!! I think he should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, however come nomination time, I was surprised as the movie didn't garner a single nomination. There is a stubborn arrogance to Affleck's character in the beginning, so it's kind of hard to root for him whilst he is driving round in a Porsche and spending time in his posh golf club, but as the movie goes on, and he is forced to take a manual job with KC, one he threw back in his face, scoffing at the very notion earlier in the movie, you do start to feel for him. All in all an excellent movie. It doesn't have a lot of rewatchable value for me as it is so depressing but it's great non the less.

dmitri sokolovski Movies supposed to inspire, entertain, be thought provoking, funny and this is what for I'm prepared to pay.Some might say that this movie is thought provoking. I would agree with this, but the thing is that I see that every day in my life - my friends, neighbours, family members getting fired, getting new jobs, I see lives being destroyed, new ventures being started etc. Why would I want to pay for it to watch it on a screen? It's a good movie from the technical point of view i.e. the acting was good, directing, music, but it doesn't have substantiality, it's like watching the world go by. Sit in a coffee shop for 2 hours, watch people pass by, talk to each other and there's your movie.So find something useful to do instead of wasting it on this movie.

Adam Peters (46%) A movie looking at wealthier folk dealing with unemployment and money problems that only really half works, as showing such issues based around high-earners is somewhat unique, but at the same time many more people have gone through much, much worse leading to some of the scenes feeling a bit too bitter to swallow. The fact that Afleck's character battles to get back into a top job and has to settle for a while as a construction hand is a luxury many would have prayed for. And any sympathy for Chris Cooper's character losing his well paid job after many decades in a world of two year maximum contracts has to be forced out I'm afraid. Overall this is a fairly decent drama with a better cast than the film itself.

p-stepien In the midst of economic turmoil the GTX corporation is downsized, not so much because of dire need, but due to shareholder pressure and necessity to project success via any means possible. All in order to keep the stock prices at a high. The story follows three victims of the corporate brutality: the middle aged sales exec Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) and further down the line his superiors senior manager Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and the first company employee, CSO Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones). Bobby Walker gets hit with the reality slowly but surely, not ready to let go of his extravagant lifestyle with a spacious suburban house, regular golf outings and eating out almost everyday. However when mortgage payment start getting hit Bobby finally agrees to take on the job of his construction-worker brother-in-law, Jack Dolan (Kevin Costner).Toughest hit is 60-year-old Phil Woodward, who now lacks any traits making him employable. Too old to find a new career, but too low on the ladder to get offered positions in this tough economic climate. For Gene McClary, owner as vast shares at GTX, being fired on a golden parachute entails almost no financial problems, however it does bring out a disillusionment with his former CEO and best friend James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson), downsizing for personal gain, paying himself out hefty multimillion dollar profits, while thousands go unemployed. Now resetting to a world, where money is a product in itself, he reminisces of a time, when people knew their real worth building physical objects, not just functioning in an increasingly virtual and lopsided economy.With a story deserving better script treatment, the main issue comes from an almost total lack of connection with the three protagonists. Given the overall situation of millions working minimum wage jobs, the plight of three rich white guys going through a rough spot seems detached from the ordinary man. Despite the real tragedy that hits during the movie, the 'inconveniences' seem timid at best, barely cause you to flinch when Bobby Walker has to sell his beloved sports car (as if he really needed it). Given the overall consumerist culture attacking corporate and everyday America, the breath of reality barely resonates, let alone devastate. Unfortunately most time is afforded to Bobby Walker, whose story hardly hits home, involves or causes the slightest compassion. Even more so that writer / director John Wells teases Bobby with two imminent job opportunities, only to take them away in truly awkward jarring fashion.The much more intriguing story themes lurk with Woodward and McClary. The first destroyed by the realisation, that his world has ended, but no one has even seemed to notice. Probably the only honest, humanist message apparent, more involving than the big money work break of Bobby Walker. On the other hand corporate exec McClary brings some well-rounded insight and contemplation into culture of corporate America, even if at times it is pretty superficial, as if taken from headlines of blog articles ranting at corrupt CEO (however true this may be, you would expect a bit more in-depth commentary from high-end educated multi-millionaires).