The Company Men

Premiering at the 26th Annual Sundance Film Festival, The Company Men, written and directed by John Wells, deals with the all-too-familiar themes of company downsizing and redundancy in our modern economic climate.

The film begins just as the working day might for any white collar worker. As the dapper Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) steps out of his beautiful suburban home and into his Porsche, the audience is swept along by the irresistible charm and luxury of the “American Dream”. Walker works for GTX, a fictional shipping company, who despite their glamorous exterior are struggling to keep afloat in the economic recession. The company must make cutbacks, and leading man Bobby Walker is just one of thousands whose livelihood must be terminated for the good of the company. Cocksure and adamant that he will walk into an executive position at another company within days, Walker refuses to admit the severity of his situation.

Walker’s world was defined by his job, and he struggles to come to terms with his unemployment, mourning it like the loss of a beloved friend. It doesn’t take long before Walker’s redundancy package is eaten up by his excessive lifestyle, and once he has waved goodbye to his fancy car and golf membership, decides to accept the help of Jack Dolan (Kevin Costner). Dolan is a blue collar worker, who earns a modest living installing drywall, a profession Walker always deemed to be beneath him. Through the kindness of Dolan, Walker is given the opportunity to begin his life anew, to love his family and discover who he is, instead of what corporations such as GTX want him to be.

Poignant and humbling, this film is a challenging drama which enraptures its audience with a strong cast and a narrative which is easily applicable to our own modern day society.

Grace Johnson