Rating: 
Summary: The true face of evil...
Review: One of the most brutally subversive films of the 90s, and since its debut, I can still watch it time and time again. THAT'S the testament of a truly great film. Other people will say I'm nuts, but when you've been stuck watching 'Charlie's Angels" or "Armageddon" for the upteenth time, and a film of substance comes along, you grab it with both hands, and don't let go.The production values are basically nil. It's a talky film with a mind to skewer both traditional roles of the antagonist/protagonist, and corporate America, and it succeeds brilliantly on both levels. Aaron Eckhart got an unbelieveable amount of hate mail following the release of this film, and I'm not suprised. Why this film didn't get the recognition it deserved is beyond me. Neil Labute's subsequent film "Your Friends & Neighbours" is almost as good, and certainly worth owning, but this is the one the get. Absolutely essential.
Rating:
Summary: Searing, sobering, unforgettable
Review: There is a chilling scene in this brilliant film in which a misogynistic man, after having pretended to fall in love with a frail, deaf woman and finally coldly told her the truth, says to her, "So how does it make you feel inside at this moment, knowing what you do? It hurts that much? Then I guess I must be going; the deed is done." You may notice that during this cruel psychological assault, the deaf woman at one point looks away from him, and (thankfully) may not have heard all he has said to her. But that's beside the point. The psychological assault is targeted at US. The movie is asking us, how does THAT make us feel inside. The triumph of the movie (apart from being made by first-time writer-director Neil LaBute with only a $25,000 budget) is that it unrelentingly confronts us with the most callous and apathetic of human behavior and makes us think about OUR behavior in the real world. It paints a frightening picture of moral decay, relational malaise, emotional backruptcy that is increasingly common in our society at large.
Rating:
Summary: Uncomfortable, but worth it
Review: This is a deceptive tale from the corporate jungle. Chad (Aaron Eckhart) is a virile, handsome middle level manager capable of some charm. However he doesn't relate to other people the way most people do. He has some superficial tricks for getting close. He tells women he likes the way they smell. He knows they love that. He bonds with men by appealing to their prejudices. He tells sexist jokes: "What's the difference between a golf ball and a G-spot?" Answer: "I can spend twenty minutes looking for a golf ball." He likes to get close to people to use and exploit them. But he goes further than that. He likes to hurt them. Why? "Because I can," he says.
In other words, Chad's a sociopath who specializes in humiliating people. He gets a black worker to expose himself. He says he needs to see if he really has the stuff to be recommended for a promotion. He tells him, the guy who wins is the guy who has "the nastiest sack of venom." In case the guy doesn't know he's been humiliated, as he pulls up his pants, Chad tells him to get him a cup of coffee, black.
Christine (Stacy Edwards) is a pretty girl in her twenties, a lightning fast typist in the secretarial pool. She's very nice and caring. Problem is she's deaf and talks funny. Chad spots her and decides she is perfect for this little game of broken hearts he wants to play with Howard (Matt Malloy), his slightly nerdy friend, co-worker and sometime boss. We'll both date her, he says, and then dump her. That way we'll get back at all the women who have done us dirt. He has an ulterior motive as well. He wants to destroy Howard, just to prove he can.
What makes this film work is the sheer brutality of Chad's bloodless methods, and Director Neil LaBute's suffocating depiction of predatory life in the corporate structure. LaBute, who also wrote the script, is uncompromising in his desire to make us see that people are animals. He succeeds.
Rating: 
Summary: On the cruelty of men, but also people in general
Review: This is a great flick about the reasons people are cruel and manipulate others: simply, because they can. Aaron Eckhart does a great job playing the main character,Chad, a man that will make you hate all men. But, what I took away from this was not only how cruel men can be, but people in general. This movie is about more than misogyny. And, it's great to watch just for Eckhart's performance alone. BOTTOM LINE: It's not cheezy, there's no fancy music to sway you to one side or the other. It's, instead, a dark look at men and politics in the corporate world, full of simple yet telling dialogue, definetly worth a watch. GRADE: B+
Rating:
Summary: If you've ever been jilted by a woman....
Review: Try this one on for size and comfort. Interesting background on this. I had recently been having some major problems with my ex wife, my friend had been cheated on and dumped by his girlfriend. We decide to rent In The Company of Men. Instead of being shocked and disgusted by Chad, this guy became our champion. In the time we watched this film, he became every man's cult hero. Just a guy who was ruthless and didn't give a damn. It turned our broken hearts into pure steel. The scene where he brutally dumps the def girl, we played over and over and over again, laughing our heads off. It was a healing experience. Needless to say neither of us could be as cold as Chad, but it was nice to pretend if for a little while. So any guy out there who has had a woman lie, cheat or break your heart. Pop this one in for a spin and let some male agression pour out in one big blow.
Rating:
Summary: A Tale of Reality that Corporate America Denies or Covers Up
Review: Whew, When the director set out to make this film, he did not intend to make the kind of "feel good" movie where the bad guy(s) get what's coming to them and the heroes live happily ever after. Handsome, suave, smile and shake your hand while putting a sharp knife in your back - Chad, (Aaron Eckhart) proposes a cruel contest where he and a more laid-back and non-threatening company type man, Howard set out to meet, romance, seduce, and ultimately dump without warning, an otherwise (as dictated by societal norms) un-datable woman, all in the name of striking a blow by the common, middle management and well-meaning man who has been wronged by the sterotypical gold-digging woman who will only use a man until he can no longer provide her an avenue to a better life. Chad's plan seems to have only one victim, and that is the woman who the pair will use and abuse prior to leaving her high and dry and without anything left including her pride. As we can determine early on, Chad is the type who does not have any trouble meeting and obtaining the company of women, but his counterpart is the type who is not as comfortable or confident with his own ability to meet and please women, and therefore tends to date much less, but for longer periods of time, and he is the one who normally gets "dumped" per se. This movie will have your jaw dropping on many occasions, especially if you have never met the Chad type in the work place or at social gatherings. Ladies, please know that this Chad person probably exists, but his character is truly the composite of every man who your parents and friends have warned you about and every woman who has ever had her heart savagely broken into pieces has a story about. Let this film entertain you and let the characters repulse you, but don't look for any "Shawshank Redemption" type of endings, and when it ends, bask in the awe of being glad that you don't know any Chads, but that every back-stabbing weasel in the corporate office is a potential Chad if you put enough blood in the water. In real life, this would have been a text book case of sexual harassment and/or professional misconduct in the workplace! Summary, a good movie to watch alone, with same-sex friends, or with someone whom you have dated for a long enough time so that you don't set off any early alarms as to "Could he/she be doing this to me?" Happy Viewing, Steve
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