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In the Company of Men
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by Sony Pictures
Sales Rank: 33585
Price: $22.49
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Two bored businessmen, exiled to a remote company outpost on a six-week business trip, decide to enliven their visit by romancing a deaf woman and then savagely dumping her. Slimy Chad (Aaron Eckhart) convinces schlumphy Howard (Matt Molloy) to take part in the vicious scheme by framing it as an act of revenge against uppity womankind, but it quickly becomes apparent that he harbors some even more sinister motives. What might have been a simple exploration (some, no doubt, would say reiteration) of straightforward misogyny is elevated by the remarkable performance of Eckhart; at once charming and nauseating, his fascinating interpretation of pure competitive evil dominates the film. Neil LaBute's intelligent script is somewhat reminiscent of Whit Stillman's darker moments (minus the collegiate cleverness and zany warmth), and his direction, while rarely visually impressive, does connote the hellish impersonality of corporate interiors with chilling success. The director-screenwriter deserves additional plaudits for resisting both the tidal pull toward poetic justice and the temptation to draw either of his main characters as even slightly sympathetic. A study in ugliness, a rubbernecker's delight, a time bomb. <I>--Miles Bethany</I>
Viewer Reviews
Two alpha-male business men on a business trip, Chad (Aaron Eckhart) and Howard (Matt Malloy), set out to destroy a deaf woman, Christine (Stacy Edwards), by getting her to fall in love with them and then dumping her, in order to get revenge on women in general.
"In the Company of Men" is possibly one of the most mean-spirited and misanthropic movies that I have ever seen (I say misanthropic rather than misogynistic, since, although many of the characters in the film are misogynists, the one major female character in this film, Christine, is presented as a nice person who does not deserve to be tormented by the likes of Chad, while the male characters are presented as being complete jerks). As a result, it is not a film to be enjoyed (although I did laugh, in spite of myself, at a number of places throughout the film), but it is a fascinating and totally believable study of the cruelty that human beings are capable of. It is made all the more effective and frightening by the fact that this cruelty is executed in a bloodless (and legal) manner. If Chad and Howard were torturing people in a manner like the killer in the "Saw" movies, I could tell myself that none of this is real and that most people aren't capable of such actions, but when the weapons of torture are words rather than knives, the idea of people like this existing in the real world becomes all the more plausible. Worse still is the fact that, even while "torturing" Christine, Chad still manages to come across as being charming and attractive, which is how he can succeed in the first place.
This movie was the film debut of playwright Neil LaBute. Although the script of this film was written as an original screenplay, LaBute's stage background is clearly evident in it, and the film has a very stagy feel to it. This is the main thing I didn't like about this movie. On the other hand, Aaron Eckhart, in his first cinematic starring role, is absolutely brilliant as a conscienceless sociopath. It is Eckhart who makes this film, and from this movie, it is easy to see why he went on to bigger and better things. See this film along with "Thank You For Smoking" and marvel at the brilliance of Eckhart.
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In the Company of Men
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