Written, directed and produced by John Wells (“The West Wing”), this indie drama stars Ben Affleck as a successful businessman who comes face-to-face with America’s downsizing epidemic when he loses his job and is forced to take a construction gig. Rounding out the all-star cast are Kevin Costner as Affleck’s brother-in-law, Tommy Lee Jones as a conflicted corporate bigwig and Chris Cooper as a paranoid executive.
How can a film with a cast like that be so boring? How can it be so empty in regards to emotion, storytelling, and character development? These are questions I cannot answer. However, when I think about it, The Company Men may have achieved the unthinkable – taking a great cast and promising premise and churning out blah. Yes, “blah” is the best term I could think of to describe The Company Men.
One might wonder why 1.5 stars after such harsh words. I think it’s because, even in a poorly made movie, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones still manage to hold my interest despite the odds. Or maybe it’s because I don’t want to admit that those two could help create such a snoozer of a film.
[xrr rating=1.5/5 label=””]
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLjjAk2k1aw[/youtube]