The Company Men

“The Company Men” stars Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner in a story similar to “Up In The Air” except that the leading men in this film are those who are downsized by corporate demands instead of those doing the downsizing to them. Written and directed by John Wells, the film is fast paced and well edited and directed as it tells us the stories of three men made victims by the decisions of upper management and how the corporate officers and boards strive to keep profits high while minimizing caring and humanity.. Masterfully played by Tommy Lee Jones, the film is, on the one hand, depressing as it tells us how vulnerable the tenure of employees, even high level ones, can be while, at the same time, letting us know how critical and necessary to our everyday lives what having a decent job represents. I rate this film with 3 stars and the unfortunate prediction that it will not do well commercially. People in hard times and a down economy go to the movies to experience “escapes” from the everyday world and its problems and they don’t need films such as this to serve as reminders of them.