 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
In The Company of Men - DVD
Director: Neil LaButeWriters: Neil Labute Producer: Mark Archer Studio: Atlantis Entertainment, Fair & Square Productions Characters: Aaron Eckhart - Chad Matt Malloy - Howard Stacy Edwards - Christine Features: Anamorphic Widescreen Format Tons of Audio Commentary: Stephen Pevner, Aaron Eckhart, Joel Plotch, Neil LaBute, Matt Malloy, Stacy Edwards, Alex Simon Review: Some people confuse "bad movies" with "movies about bad things". This has always bothered me. In The Company of Men, for example, is a very good movie about two guys who emotionally destroy an innocent woman. Titanic was a very bad movie about two kids from different sides of the tracks who fall in love (on a sinking ship). The setting: Chad's girlfriend apparently moved out and took everything. He and Howard are at the airport embarking on a 6-week project for their company. Howard was just slapped by a woman for no reason (he asked for the time). Chad and Howard discuss how to get back at their women -- at all women, in fact. Chad develops a plan: In this new city, they'll both find a girl, date her, smother her with love, and at the end of 6 weeks, pull the rug out from under her -- and pull it hard. The movie has several surprises (some predictable, some not), so rather than ruin them I'll end the plot summary here. The first time I saw this movie was in a theater in Austin TX, and I didn't like it. The second time I saw this movie was on Valentines Day, at home, with several male friends. It was quite refreshing. Neil Labute takes brutality to an entirely new level. Almost all of it comes directly from Chad -- a character who you should dislike intensely. Originally I didnt like Aaron Eckhart's performance (as Chad). I didn't think it was believable (that someone could be so cruel). But this movie isn't exactly realistic anyway so I've changed my mind and officially give him a thumbs-up. Matt Malloy is also excellent, as is Stacy Edwards. In fact, Matt Malloy gets the Best Acting award for the movie. Skip this next sentence if you dont want to spoil part of the movie. I just found out that Stacy Edwards, whose character (Christine) is deaf, is apparently not deaf herself. I'm extremely impressed. Though it doesn't really have much to do with plot, Labute points a funny finger at the great American business with this film. We see meetings, we hear Chad and Howard talk about their jobs, we hear about reports that have to get done and numbers that have to get crunched, parties, messy interns in the break room, but we never actually have any idea of what the hell it is that this business actually does. It's a consistently funny running gag, I think. In fact, if any parts of this movie can be considered funny, it's those bits about corporate culture. If not for those, the movie would be a real downer (not that it isn't already). But like I said, the fact that this movie is a downer doesn't imply that it's a bad movie. It is a good movie. It is worth seeing. I would, however, advise against watching this movie in the presence of women. Particularly either of my two female roommates. They got violent. -- Trey |
copyright ®1999