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IN
THE COMPANY OF MEN
Pure evil. This is the only fitting way to describe
the character of Chad, played by Aaron Eckhart, a guy that makes
Alex from "A Clockwork Orange" look sort of pleasant. Chad is the
personification of malevolence.
Review by Simon Remark
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IN THE COMPANY OF MEN
(1997)
This
page was created on September 10, 2001
This page was last updated on May 21, 2005
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CREDITS
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 Directed
by Neil LaBute
Writing credits Neil LaBute
Aaron
Eckhart .... Chad
Stacy Edwards .... Christine
Matt Malloy .... Howard
Emily Cline .... Suzanne
Jason Dixie .... Intern
Chris Hayes .... Co-Worker 2
Michael Martin .... Co-Worker 1
Mark Rector .... John
Produced
by Mark Archer (producer), Lisa Bartels (line producer), Toby Gaff
(executive producer), Mark Hart (executive producer), Matt Malloy
(executive producer), Stephen Pevner (producer), Joyce M. Pierpoline
(associate producer)
Original music by Karel Roessingh, Ken Williams
Cinematography by Tony Hettinger
Film Editing by Joel Plotch
MPAA:
Rated R for language and emotional
abuse.
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SYNOPSIS
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STUDIO
SYNOPSIS:
 IN
THE COMPANY OF MEN is about a psychological love triangle set within
90s corporate culture.
Chad
and Howard, two young white collar executives from a home office
in a nameless city, are first seen en route to a six-week business
trip at a branch office. Both are frustrated by their lot in life
-- passed over for promotions by younger colleagues at work and
rejected by their respective long term girlfriends -- so they formulate
a plan that will bond them in their pain in order to ultimately
feel better about themselves as men. All they need now is a girl.
 Chad's
late night barroom suggestion is to find a young woman susceptible
enough to be pulled into a situation in which both men can date
her during their stay, someone not used to this kind of attention.
If luck is with them, they'll dash her hopes during their last days
in town and, as Chad says, "she'll be reaching for the sleeping
pills within a week and you and me, we'll laugh about this until
we're very old men." Not long after they arrive, Chad discovers
a beautiful deaf woman working in the typing pool.
 What
ensues is a cat-and-mouse game of one-upmanship that escalates into
full scale psychological warfare. Both Chad and Howard work to win
the affections of the young woman, yet the intensity and reasons
behind their deception begin to take drastically different courses.
Only too late does this "frat boy" prank begin to reveal itself
as deadly serious, with a struggle between the two men at the heart
of the battle. The woman is only a means to an end, a pawn easily
captured and tossed aside in a dark, wicked duel for corporate ascension.
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 Review
by
SIMON REMARK
simon_remark@hotmail.com
Film Reviewer
Simon
graduated from Trinity Western University where he studied film
under prolific screenwriter Ned Vankevich. He prefers independent
and lower-budget films.
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 Pure
evil. This is the only fitting way to describe the character of Chad,
played by Aaron Eckhart, a guy that makes Alex from "A Clockwork Orange"
look sort of pleasant. Before watching this film I had just finished
watching "Apocalypse Now" and was thinking of writing about the malevolence
at the center of man? then I saw this and thought? Chad is the personification
of that malevolence. |
 The
film begins in an airport courtesy lounge, where two young corporate
Americans, Chad and Howard (Matt Malloy), muse over how much they
hate women and the hostile nature of their jobs. Chad, the stronger
of the two, tells of how his girlfriend recently dumped him, leaving
nothing except his futon and American Gigolo poster ("She even took
the frame!")-He says he doesn't give a shit though. Howard then runs
down his painful story of rejection; he was "faded out" by his ex-fianc?:
"I'd call her like three times, she'd call back once," he says. |
 The
two are on their way to a regional placement to work on a company
project for six weeks, and Chad proposes a scheme that he thinks will
help the two feel better about themselves: they will find a young
girl, "vulnerable as hell," both date her, buy her flowers, dinner,
etc. and then suddenly just pull the rug from under her feet, hurt
her as bad as possible. Chad disgustingly suggests it will be therapeutic.
The girl they prey on is a young secretary, Christine (Stacy Edwards).
And the worst of it is, she's deaf-a perfect target for Chad's sadistic
plan. |
 When
the two begin to pursue Christine some interesting things happen.
First, we see how incredibly vicious Chad really is. When he talks
to Howard about his first date with her he jokes about how hard it
was for her to form words, and how painful it was watching her try
to get them out. He jokes, "There was so much saliva in the corners
of her mouth I couldn't finish my salad." |
 Howard,
however, becomes attracted to Christine, and eventually falls in love
with her. But Christine falls in love with Chad. And the unsettling
love triangle brings out the extremely inhuman nature of Chad, the
weakness and insecurity of Howard and the vulnerability of Christine. |
 Chad's
evil nature is apparent in the office, as well. In one disturbing
scene, Chad makes a young production assistant show him his penis,
just to humiliate him. This instance, among others in the film, reveal
the cruel nature of the competitive corporate world. |
| "In
The Company of Men" is so realistic and revealing it's scary. Chad,
Howard and Christine are people most of us are familiar with: Chad,
the young, handsome, slick-talking, manipulative sales rep; Howard,
the weak side-kick, so desperate to fit in and feel accepted that
he'll do anything Chad tells him to do; and Christine, the good-natured,
sweet, pleasant, trusting girl. It is the attributes of each character
that make the climax and ending of this film so shocking and harrowing. |
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OFFICIAL
SITE
In The Company Of Men ? 1997 Sony Pictures.
All Rights Reserved.
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