MOVIE REVIEW - The Company Men

How can such a big cast be in such a small movie? That is this weeks, The Company Men new at the theaters this week.

Listen to this cast, Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Craig T. Nelson, Maria Bello, and a great supporting cast too. Up front, this will be a hard movie for some to watch as it deals with job loss and the pain it can cause. But TCM makes some really good points.

It's the story of these three men and their families. All working for a gigantic ship building company in 2008. All three are at different levels of employment and all at different stages of their lives. All are let go in massive cutbacks and restructuring. All are left to try to pick up the pieces of their broken lives. In all, TCM is a complicated story that weaves in and out of story lines, but is told clearly and well. What will these men do?

This movie makes a few really great points that should talk to all of us on one level or another. Corperate greed, and even personal greed are clearly in the cross hairs. Watching CEO's make hundred of millions more than they need, while laying off employees is hard enough to watch, but it is part of our lives. But also watching our characters who have been canned, live way out of their league, and jamming their lives with things they don't need and can't afford, makes TCM really relevant. It can be a reality check for all. It's a look at what millions have gone through and are going through, and how tough this country really can be sometimes. This is not easy to watch at times, and for many could strike very close to the bone.

The Company Men though is very well done, and very well cast. It's in very limited release, so this may not be in your area and a rental this spring may be your best bet. But is is solid, if not melancholy movie making.