IN THE COMPANY OF MEN (Sony Pictures Classics - 1997) Starring Aaron Eckhart, Stacy Edwards, Matt Malloy Screenplay by Neil Labute Produced by Mark Archer, Stephen Pevner Directed by Neil Labute Running time: 95 minutes
**** (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: A
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
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"Let's hurt somebody."
With these three words, director/screenwriter Neil LaBute has crafted an audacious opus of ruthlessness and manipulation unlikely to be surpassed this year in its raw, savage brutality. Certain to litter year-end Top 10 lists across the board, IN THE COMPANY OF MEN cuts straight to the core in its powerful depiction of misanthropy bred by tumultuous anxiety associated with the modern cutthroat corporate workplace -- it's a remarkably auspicious first feature for Mr. LaBute.
Chad (Aaron Eckhart) and Howard (Matt Malloy) are diametric opposites who make for unlikely friends: while Chad is tall, handsome, assertive, superficially charismatic, and confidently authoritative, Howard is short, bookish, insecure, awkward, and rather hapless. However, it is Howard who wields the power in their professional lives; he holds the title of project manager and Chad is his subordinate when the two meet up at the film's outset in an airport courtesy lounge; they've been assigned for six weeks to a Midwestern office of their company. Howard's authority, though, is in title only: it's Chad who is the true leader, and when he proposes a little sport -- to soothe their bruised male egos and as a bit of vindictive payback to the female gender, he suggests that they find some vulnerable and susceptible wallflower that they would both romance, raising her spirits to dizzying heights ... and them dashing them, and her, to pieces by unceremoniously dumping her -- Howard is unable to resist. They find their perfect mark in Christine (Stacy Edwards), a young temp working at the Midwestern branch as a typist who happens to be deaf, and unleash their malevolent plot.
In any list of Top 5 helpful tips to follow at a modern workplace, "Watch your back" would occupy at least three of the entries, and IN THE COMPANY OF MEN shows how the immersion of oneself into an environment of ruthless ambition coupled with a paranoid cutthroat mentality grooms bitterness, spitefulness, and anger. Chad is spawned from this system: he, as they say, knows how to play the game -- on the surface, he's handsome, supremely self-assured, and smoothly knows how to handle every situation -- how to charmingly say exactly what people want to hear, or how put a convincing spin on everything which leaves him in the best light (this naturally requires casting everyone else in the worst light). Chad's a mover, a shaker, a man on the rise -- in terms of corporate America, he's a winner. But behind every handshake and pleasantry exchanged over donuts and coffee before project meetings, one can almost sense the palpable rage and malice emanating from Chad -- bitterness at being passed over for promotion, for getting the dead-end assignments, for failing to receive the recognition he feels is deserved; anger at those who would dare pass him in the race up the corporate ladder, who steal his deserved acclaim, who pose a threat for his advancement. "I hate that prick," Chad says of a co-worker (actually, of many co-workers), and it's not uttered in jest or in a light-hearted vein; he truly, completely means it. To Chad, every co-worker is potential competition for the pay increase or the cushy new promotion, and is consequently an enemy -- one to be greeted warmly, lulled into a false sense of security, and humiliatingly betrayed. It's Darwin's Law to the fullest extent -- survival of the fittest -- and not only is Chad determined to be the one still standing at the end, he's more than happy to be the one to slay off his competitors and gloat as they squirm on their deathbeds. "How does it feel?"
If the competitiveness of the modern workplace creates hate-filled monstrosities like Chad out of the strong-willed, among the weak the pressure-cooker molds men like Howard, whose inherent insecurities, fears, and frustrations are magnified into self-loathing. Howard is not an assertive man, and he clearly hates his impotency in his professional (under his wing, his project is floundering) and personal life (the film opens finding him tending to a bruised ear -- a parting gift from his new ex-girlfriend) -- it's obvious that Howard admires and seeks to emulate Chad's confidence, slickness and suavity; constantly seeking Chad's approval, it's easy to occasionally forget that Howard is the project manager and the one actually in the position of authority. Howard, in short, does not know how to play the game, which is akin to being a bloody slab of meat in a shark-infested pool.
While IN THE COMPANY OF MEN is thunderously powerful and at times the film's unflinching depiction of turpitude borders upon revolting, it yet remains riveting and compulsively watchable, even wickedly funny on many an occasion. Mr. LaBute's incisive and daring screenplay, filled with snappy dialogue, is wonderfully realised by an accomplished trio of performances by the lead actors, and his use of blaring percussive riffs as segueways between the seven separate sections in the highly-structured film, as in Todd Solondz's WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, jolts us and violently propels us forward. Mr. Eckhart's screen debut is nothing short of astonishing -- he's deliciously villainous, an unrestrained embodiment of bile and venom who is incomparably malicious. It's a virtuoso performance which is always utterly convincing, and heralds Mr. Eckhart as a bright new talent. (Either that, or he's *really* like that -- a frightening thought, but in either case Mr. LaBute deserves credit for his casting.) Ms. Edwards is superb as Christine, who proves to be more resilient than anyone could have expected, although her depiction of her character's deafness isn't quite credible and is consequently mildly distracting. Mr. Malloy is also good as Howard, perhaps the most complex character in the film and certainly the one called upon for the greatest emotional range, although he is overshadowed by his castmates.
Many have pegged IN THE COMPANY OF MEN as a film about misogynism, but this isn't a very accurate assessment. While Chad and Howard's game involves crushing the spirits of a vulnerable young woman, Chad doesn't particularly hate women -- no moreso than his hatred of everyone else, at least -- and Howard hates himself far, far more than anyone with XX chromosomes. What Chad understands at the outset to their cruel sport, and what Howard fails to comprehend, is that theirs is an environment where it's kill or be killed. Their malicious sport is an extension of this philosophy, and a means to an end. And as for sweet, innocent Christine, caught in the crossfire? To Chad, she'll merely be a victimized bystander, a casualty of war.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "Let's hurt somebody." - Aaron Eckhart, IN THE COMPANY OF MEN
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