Weinstein Co. Liken Themselves to Themes in ‘The Company Men’

It’s almost fitting that a studio head who is notorious for firing folks and his film distribution company who for the past two-three years has experienced its own set of financial setbacks, has laid claim to a film whose central theme is about the changing market and white collar staffers being handed their walking papers. The Weinstein Co. have apparently been in very long negotiations for John Wells’ The Company Men. The Sundance preemed film should play well as a complimentary film to Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, but personally when I saw the drama back in January, I mentioned that I was “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.”

So this means the Weinsteins have a good couple of months to figure out how to market a film that could potentially be seen as a downer, Deadline.com mentions that the film is headed for a Summer or the first half of Fall release (which could mean the film might be released at the same time as the Sept.9th release for Ben Affleck’s The Town). 

Bobby Walker (Affleck) is living the American dream: great job, beautiful family, shiny Porsche in the garage. When corporate downsizing leaves him and co-workers Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) jobless, the three men are forced to re-define their lives as men, husbands, and fathers.
Bobby soon finds himself enduring enthusiastic life coaching, a job building houses for his brother-in-law (Kevin Costner) which does not play to his executive skill set, and perhaps the realization that there is more to life than chasing the bigger, better deal.