This film didn't do much business when it came out (probably because it came out in the wake of the much more successful "Up in the Air" which covered much of the same ground), but Wells's story of white collar types dealing with the perils of unemployment after their company lets them go is a rather sobering watch at a time when high profile mass layoffs are all the rage now. Ben Affleck gets main focus as the hotshot exec whose life is completely upended by losing his job and eventually is forced to take a construction job with his blue collar brother-in-law (Kevin Costner). But Chris Cooper's subplot is the one that really hits home when viewed today; a company veteran who worked his way up from the floor to the boardroom and then is let go to find out there is no place for him in the modern workforce. It's hard not to watch him struggle and fail to find anything (a deleted scene even has him fail to get a pizza delivery job because that's for high schoolers and not a 50-something) and not think of those facing obsolescence in the age of AI. It's a well-acted drama (you also get Tommy Lee Jones as the top ranking exec who fights a losing battle to save the jobs of others), but it's very sobering to view in a time when so much is unsettled for so many people.
The feature directing debut of TV maestro John Wells (currently riding high off “The Pitt”), 2010’s layoff drama “The Company Men” is unfortunately as relevant today as it was when released in the wake of the Great Recession.
