In
the Company of Men
Reviewed
by Leonard Heldreth, June, 1999
Just when
the images of men seemed to be recovering from the trashing
they took in the eighties, along comes President Clinton and a film
like In the Company of Men to set them back at least a decade. The
most frightening aspect of this film is that you will recognize these
people—you've seen the walk, heard the talk, and dodged the ricochets
from the jockeying for position at the office. The banality of the
dialogue and gestures is disturbingly familiar.
Two young middle-management types, Howie and Chad, are
transferred to a different city for six weeks to help their company
carry out a project. On the way they complain about how badly they
have been treated by the women in their lives (Howie has just broken
an engagement and Chad, whose girlfriend has left, affirms that "you
can't even tell a joke at the office any more" and "women—inside
they're all the same—meat and gristle and hatred"). The
two decide on revenge, and over the six weeks they are in this city,
they will deliberately romance some wallflower, alternating weeks
to pursue her and make her care for them and then dump her flat when
they leave. As Chad explains, "It's like what we used to do at
school except better because it gets back at some people."
At the new office they select as their victim Christine,
who is not only emotionally vulnerable but deaf. Both men romance
her and, despite their plans to humiliate her; each also sees aspects
of her that are attractive, and competition between the two begins
over both Christine and their positions in the company. How all this
works out involves game-playing that is itself a bit like a Chinese
box.
The acting is astonishingly good, and the photography
is static to focus attention on the dialogue and the actors. In the
Company of Men did not do much business because, as one critic phrased
it, it's the ultimate anti-date film, but it is a remarkable achievement
and a film that you will not soon forget.
