The Company Men Blu-ray delivers stunningly beautiful video and great audio in this overall recommended Blu-ray release
Bobby Walker has a great job, a beautiful family and a shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and co-workers Phil Woodward and Gene McClary jobless, the three men are forced to re-define their lives as men, husbands, and fathers. Bobby soon finds himself enduring enthusiastic life coaching, a job building houses for his brother-in-law which does not play to his executive skill set, and perhaps the realization that there is more to life than chasing the bigger, better deal.
For more about The Company Men and the The Company Men Blu-ray release, see The Company Men Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on June 7, 2011 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.
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 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'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 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 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.
