"The Company Men" Movie Trailer Review

"The Company Men"

Movie Trailer Review

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

It seems like it'll be hard to top "Up in the Air" when it comes to films about modern downsizing, but television producer John Wells ("ER") has decided to give it a go anyway with "The Company Men," this time actually viewing downsizing from the victims' perspectives.

The film follows three men, Bobby (Ben Affleck), Gene (Tommy Lee Jones) and Phil (Chris Cooper), all three downsized from their corporate jobs and forced to find a new place in life despite losing nearly everything they've grown accustomed to. Bobby goes to work doing drywalling with his brother-in-law Jack (Kevin Costner).

The trailer doesn't say too much about Jones or Cooper's characters, but it's quick to point out that all four of its leading actors are Academy Award winners (Affleck winning for writing as opposed to acting), which certainly gives it an air of importance--thankfully, it doesn't just depend on that fact, and we get little glimpses of all of the actors, who seem very much at the top of their game, Affleck especially. "Gone Baby Gone" may have been a godsend for Affleck, creatively, but it's been a while before he's shown off his acting chops, so this just might be the film to do it. The four lead actors are joined by Maria Bello, Craig T. Nelson and Rosemarie Dewitt, rounding out a rather fantastic cast.

Outside of the cast, the film seems like it could be great or unbearably schmaltzy (especially with Affleck screaming motivatonal speaking jargon from a rooftop to sweeping optimistic music--subtle, this trailer is not), hard to say for sure.


"The Company Men" will be released October 22, 2010.  The trailer is below.  What are your thoughts?