Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Company Men Blu-ray Movie Review

Hire this disc for a position within the Blu-ray collection.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 7, 2011

I'm a highly qualified applicant.

It hurts seeing people's lives fall apart, and it hurts even more to be the person in need. In The Company Men, a large shipping firm lays off scores of employees in several waves as part of massive cost-cutting measures. The film follows the fallout as several former employees from various levels within the company console one another and try and find a new job in a down economy. The ebbs and flows of the business world and the ups and downs of the economy are a part of life, but the film doesn't harp on that. Instead, it's a somewhat dour but honest and real-in-feel Drama about people holding their lives together when their livelihood is suddenly and, they believe, unjustly taken from them. The Company Men isn't some fantastical story about the triumph of the human spirit, nor is it a tearjerking Drama; instead, the picture attempts to find a balance that's more representative of a snapshot of real life rather than a rags-to-riches fairy tale in the same style as the admittedly excellent but different-in-tone-and-purpose The Pursuit of Happyness. It's not an exemplary film, but it's strongly acted and well-made, an absorbing Drama that will at least make people stop and appreciate what they have and offer at least a glimmer of hope in a world where, it seems, all people can really count on is one another.

Will losing their jobs be the death of them?

Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is a longtime top salesman for a fast-moving, high-profile international shipping company. He makes enough to live comfortably in a million-dollar home, drive a flashy sports car, pamper his wife and kids, and buy Patriots season tickets. Suddenly, he's fired from his job. Cutbacks and a slow economy -- not to mention the cost of a new skyscraper -- have forced company chief James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson) to get rid of some of his best men, including his best friend and longtime co-worker Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) and company veteran and hard-worker Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) who has worked his way up the company ladder from the factory floor. With each man wondering why they were let go, what their futures hold, and how they will cope with the prospect of a long period of unemployment, they come to decisions that will affect them both in the here-and-now and well into the future. For Bobby, that process involves a supportive wife who must become the family's chief decision-maker and budget-slicer while her husband refuses to acknowledge the reality of the situation. Bobby fears the humiliation and backlash that may come his way when family learns he's jobless, and he's certainly not willing to sink so low as to be hired on as a helping hand at his brother-in-law Jack's (Kevin Costner) construction company, but then again he believes he'll find suitable employment in the three-month paid window his company's graciously offered.

The Company Men works through an honest balance that keeps the film from becoming either too preachy or too weepy. It sometimes seems on the precipice of both -- the latter especially -- but that's to be expected of a movie with this sort of story to tell, for if there were no emotions there would be no hard choices, and without those choices there would be no drama, and without that drama there would never come the life lessons that the movie produces, life lessons which espouse that life itself is more valuable than a corner office and a big paycheck. The Company Men respects the need for employment, but it never glamorizes it, instead using the lack thereof to slowly but steadily accentuate those things that really make for a successful life. The film paints its characters as men of pride whose worldview had perhaps been skewed by the comforts of the office and the ability to afford life's luxuries, but it slowly morphs them into warriors who choose to make the most of their lives, to turn their pride into productivity and to move on with, perhaps, wounded self-esteem but not to the point of self-destruction. At its core, The Company Men is a film about the uncertainties of life but the resiliency of men who come to realize that not having that high-paying job isn't the pinnacle of existence -- even if that's what society has drilled into people -- and who can in turn make lemons from lemonade, to borrow a trite but here-appropriate figure of speech.

The Company Men wields an incredibly talented cast. None of the performances are particularly memorable, but each is steady and honest in the sincerity with which the actors play the parts of real men who, yes, may be spoiled from sitting atop the business world but who gradually come to terms with their losses and gain more from the struggle to survive than they ever did living the high life of personal, financial, and social success. Ben Affleck is the strongest of the bunch, one-upping even a quality effort from Tommy Lee Jones. Affleck grasps the reins and rides the wave of his character's arc brilliantly. His reluctance to sacrifice his "rich" lifestyle -- to let go of those Patriots tickets, sell that sports car, cancel his country club membership -- isn't so much a result of his unwillingness or inability to do so. Instead, he sees these sacrifices as a metaphorical defeat, an admittance that what's happened really has happened, that even a young, good-looking guy with a resumé as strong as his is still subject to the same rules and disappointments as everyone else. He plays off a script that's smart and sometimes witty but never aggressively preachy or even anti-big business. If anything, the film is a celebration of hard work, determination, and entrepreneurship, taking a swipe at real greed, sure, but not necessarily bemoaning the entire system, which would have destroyed the film and negated the goodness the characters find within themselves and in one another by film's end.

The Company Men Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Company Men arrives on Blu-ray with a picture-perfect 1080, 1.78:1-framed transfer. Indeed, there's nary a flaw to be found throughout. Detail is absolutely striking throughout the entire film; whether inconsequential but very well-defined elements like the texture of a carpet or the natural lines running through planks of finished and unfinished wood alike, or the more general and more always obvious facial and clothing textures, the transfer never fails to deliver each and every visible attribute with incredible ease. The image is extremely clear -- sparkling, even -- but never appears at all unnatural, save for what may be an ever-so-slight boost in brightness throughout the film. Colors are handsome and realistic, stable and never appearing at all dull or artificially boosted. Blacks are well-defined and never crush out details, while skin textures remain naturally neutral throughout. A sprinkling layer of grain accentuates all the positives and provides a nicely filmic texture, while the absence of banding and other eyesores gives the image an untampered, natural, graceful appearance that's among the best Blu-ray has to offer.

The Company Men Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Company Men's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers almost without hitch the film's limited, dialogue-intensive audio. Indeed, there's very little here outside of a few spurts of music and talking aplenty. Though the spoken word can on rare occasions come across as ever-so-slightly muddled, Anchor Bay's track keeps dialogue grounded in the center channel and delivers it clearly and with the expected amount of muscle and accuracy. Music is satisfactorily crisp throughout the entire range. Minor ambience aids in bringing a few locales to life; the ding of an opening elevator door and general background clatter help to transport listeners into the various office building locales, while the subtle sounds of passing traffic, general restaurant din, and the like are nicely effective in giving the track a complete texture. This one certainly lacks excitement, but that's by design. This DTS mix handles The Company Men's extremely mundane soundtrack very well.

The Company Men Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Company Men features a few extras, headlined by an audio commentary track that's supported by standard-definition deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and a making-of featurette.

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director John Wells guides listeners through the film with a smart, confident air, discussing the real-life events that influenced the picture, the research that ensured authenticity within the story, the work of the cast, shooting locales, the story's themes, the contrast in characters between those who are pragmatic and realistic and those who refuse to accept the truth, and plenty more. This is a quality commentary; it's not much different than the average track, but fans will find it to be of value.
• Alternate Ending (480p, 12:52).
• Deleted Scenes (480p, 7:16): Bobby's Stock Tip, Bobby Wakes Up Early, Bobby & His Dad, Gene & His Wife, Extended Dinner, and Phil Looks For a Job.
• Making The Company Men (480p, 14:23): Cast and crew discuss the story and its themes, the quality of the performances, and the film's relevancy in modern times.

The Company Men Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Company Men isn't the next great stand-up-and-cheer movie, but it's a solid, sometimes moving, highly satisfactory, and generally honest look at people who are forced to change not who they are but how they live while redefining what they consider to be a "successful" life when they lose their jobs in an economy that makes it most difficult to land equal or better employment. Fortunately, the film isn't particularly preachy, either, and it champions several good qualities without becoming a cheerleader for anything but basic human goodness, honesty, and balance. Indeed, "balance" is the name of the game here, and with its strong cast, The Company Men is well worth hiring for a couple of hours. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of The Company Men delivers a perfect 1080p transfer, a good lossless soundtrack, and a fair assortment of extras. Recommended.