In the Company of Men | | Cast : | Aaron Eckhart, Stacy Edwards, Matt Malloy | | Director : | Neil LaBute | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen | | Released Date : | August 01, 1997 | | DVD Released Date : | March 17, 1998 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 28, 2005 | | Summary | An Incredibly Disturbing Film | Content
 | This is Neil LaBute at his best. LaBute provides a train wreck that you can't turn away from. Aaron Eckhart (an actor LaBute uses often and well) delivers an incredible performance as one of the most despicable characters put to film. If you're not familiar with LaBute's work, this is a great place to begin. Then you should immediately check out Your Friends and Neighbors. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 11, 2005 | | Summary | I shouldn't have liked it, but I did. | Content
| It's amazing the amounts of non-constructive entertainment that IFC can provide at two in the morning. In the Company of Men is one of those films that slowly drags you in. In fact, here's my dialogue with this film, if I'd have had one.
Me: "Dude, I've got to go to bed."
In the Company of Men: "You know you can't. You said that with Boys Don't Cry, too, and look what happened there."
Me: "You're right. These characters are so engrossing. I can't believe these two guys are going to intentionally set out to date this girl - a deaf girl at that - with the sole purpose of dumping her in an attempt to hurt her as harshly as they can."
Film: "Yep. I've got one of those storylines that simply rocks. Keep watching, it's only going to get worse for our deaf little hottie. These two guys are as bad as they come. Plus, Eckhart actually does a good acting job in this one. He's come a long way since Your Friends and Neighbors. The other films and I have not invited that movie to a party in a long time. There's something smelly about her when she comes over. I think its vomit."
Me: (two hours later) "You were right, Mr. Film. The ending is really quite amazing, especially the part where the second guy ends up going borderline nuts and...."
Film: "shhhhhh, don't spoil it. Now go write a review on Amazon."
Me: "Yes, Master!!!" |
| Rating | | | Date | May 29, 2005 | | Summary | Dark Version of Office Space | Content
| A young handsome albeit devilish business man persuades his associate to perform a cruel trick on a naive, lonely woman at work in order to break her heart. This is the premise for a film that studies men's cruelty and the nihilistic and absurd despair that fills the office room, often run by megalomaniacs. The film is a moral fable in many ways but so bleak and dark that many will not have the stomach for it. If you liked the theme of innocence being destroyed by evil as portrayed in the film The Last Seduction, then this film will probably work for you. But if rabid misogyny and gratuitous cruelty chafe at you too much, you might want to stay away. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 04, 2005 | | Summary | In the company of Men | Content
| This movie is a brilliant dark comedy revolving around a bet between friends to bed a deaf girl. You will squirm in your seat, but be unable to look away. This is a must have for fans of black humour. If you loved Solondz's Happiness, this is a must own dvd. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 26, 2005 | | Summary | Good if you can suspend disbelief of the premise | Content
| Corporate America is full of jerks corrupted by power who feel that they have every right to use this power to their own advantage and treat others like garbage. In the Company of Men tells the story of a few such gentlemen, and does so in what is supposed to be a realistic way, but I have a hard time believing that the characters here are acting realistically.
A pair of men go on a six-week business stint out of town, working on an anonymous project for an anonymous large company. Chad (Aaron Eckhart) encourages Howard (Matt Malloy) to play a "game" with him while they are on this business trip. He proposes that they find a vulnerable girl and each begin dating her and treating her kindly, then at the end of the six weeks, pull the rug out from underneath her and bask in her agony. The purpose here being that in the future, when either of the two of them feels mistreated by a woman, they can look back on this and tell themselves at least it's not as bad as that. Howard isn't overly enthusiastic about the idea, but goes along with anyway.
The pawn ends up being a secretary named Christine (Stacy Edwards), who also happens to be deaf. Chad takes her out first, then Howard does the same. Things start to get complicated when Christine starts to develop feelings for Chad, but Howard starts to develop true feelings for Christine, and isn't sure he wants to be involved in this game anymore. Meanwhile, everything is going according to plan for Chad, and he is loving it.
I think one of the points that this movie is trying to convey is that the most ruthless, heartless, sadistic individuals are able to succeed in business because they don't care who they step over while they're on their way up. Chad certainly fits that bill; he is absolutely despicable, almost to the point where he is a caricature, and it ultimately makes his character difficult to believe. There is virtually no way to sympathize with his character and that's because he's one-dimensional: he's a jerk and we should loathe him, and we do.
The whole game just doesn't seem like it would ever happen. Why would a man like Howard go along with it? He seems much too smart and compassionate to agree to this heartless plan. When watching the film, though, I put aside my disbelief of the premise and found it to be pretty good. I liked the way director Neil LaBute allowed for long takes and really let the actors do their thing, and they did a very good job, especially Matt Malloy. However, it's difficult to make a film realistic when you can't believe the situation. |
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