Early morning Eccles screening to a packed crowd (which means cast weren’t in tow) industry vet John Wells gave some well explained cues in the post screening Q&A as to the origins of his project – a well researched tale on white collar firings. The screenplay was initially shopped around when it was reflecting what occurred in Silicon Valley – the dot.com bubble burst was yesterday’s news and by the time the screenplay was complete, no one was interested, however the nucleus was there and would eventually take shape in Bush’s economic downturn.
While I think Wells’ The Company Men will have no problems in getting picked up (it isn’t a complete downer and it will draw comparisons to Jason Reitman’s film), I’m somewhat surprised that a commentary on corporate downsizing didn’t provide more of an emotional whiplash. With three POVs of proud men with a lump in their throats, Wells safely guides his players, some of the performances are underwhelming and the score has one too many emotional cues. I couldn’t help but feel that he flirted with the possibilities, gave up on scenes to quickly – the more complex character portrayed by Chris Cooper deserved more focus. Full review coming soon.
