THE COMPANY MEN
3 out of 5 stars

a very appropriate movie for uncertain economic times... tommy lee jones and chris cooper really make this one worthwhile with their performances in this one. :)

with our economy dying, more and more people are losing their jobs. even the higher-ups. this movie focuses on those in the private sector...3 individuals working at a transportation/logistics company called GTX. bobby walker (ben affleck) walks into work with a golf club and a great attitude, ready to take on today’s challenges in the logistics industry. little does he know, he’s about to get fired by the head of HR, sally wilcox. (maria bello) he’s offered a generous severance package, but he stills needs to get a job... and, at age 37, that’s actually harder than it sounds. he falls behind on the mortgage, is forced to sell his porsche, moves in with his parents, and ends up taking a job at his brother in law (a small role for kevin costner)’s construction site. (he’s a home builder) phil (chris cooper) is a colleague of bobby’s, who gets laid off later on thanks to a round 2 of down-sizing, and he has even a harder time adjusting because no one wants to hire a 60 year old for a job 20 somethings can do for less... then, to round out the cast, gene mcleary (tommy lee jones) is the CFO or maybe even COO of GTX, who gets fired by his best friend, the CEO, due to the fact that he was morally against the down-sizing and openly questioned it in meetings. getting fired sucks... but, it’s what we do to move on from it that matters the most. ;)

such a dramatic look into what happens to those who get the pink slip after 10-15 years of service. i mean, what happened to the guys who worked at lehman? you may think that it’s easy to pick up the pieces and move on, but it’s a lot harder when you’re 60...heck, when you’re 37. (who’s gonna hire ya if there’s a 20 something MBA who can do it for less?) sometimes you wonder through this film... this is another case of “don’t buy things you can’t afford?” or “why didn’t you have a rainy day fund?” regardless, acting is really good esp. since you’ve got chris cooper AND tommy lee jones AND lots of good supporting roles too i.e. craig t. nelson and rosemary dewitt as ben affleck’s character’s cash-strapped wife. i was kind of hoping this would be more lighthearted and comedic due to the nature of the subject at hand, but then again, i’ve been laid off and it certainly is never fun... :/