Cheap In the Company of Men (Video) (Aaron Eckhart, Stacy Edwards, Matt Malloy) (Neil LaBute) Price

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Customer Reviews of In the Company of Men

Brilliant and Provocative
I consider this to be one of the best films of the 90s. Not only is it wickedly funny and heartwrenchingly cruel, it has that rare power of causing extreme feelings in jaded movie viewers. People either absolutely love this movie or absolutely hate it. I believe that the ability to cause such viewer dissension is the true genius of Neil LaBute. Regardless of whether you liked it or hated it at least "In the Company of Men" made you feel something. Most movies nowadays are so afraid to stray from trite formulaic storylines that we viewers leave the theater with no feelings and no lasting impressions of what we just saw. At least "In the Company of Men" makes you uncomfortable, makes you squirm, and makes you think that yes, people have an astounding capacity for cruelty. I think most people who hated this movie hated it because it hit a little too close to home. No one wants to think about the times that they have been cruel to others. Unfortunately, every one of us can see a little bit of Chad in ourselves and that is what repells and horrifies us. Get over the low budget look and see the film for what it really is. It is not a sickeningly sugary Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks piece of drivel. Those of you who do not like to be challenged or pushed to think by a movie should stick with the standard Hollywood eye candy fare. "In the Company of Men" is so much more and to fully appreciate it, one must have an open mind. Movies nowadays, sell moviegoers vicarious dreams populated with beautiful people and fairytale endings. But they are just that, dreams. "In the Company of Men" shows us the harsh reality and for those who can't handle the real world, bury your head in the sand and rent a Julia Roberts flick. The real twister of the movie(and one that many viewers do not grasp) is that Chad really does fall in love with his victim but even love does not conquer all. His love for her is not enough to make him care about what happens to her after he's completed his destructive plan. Instead of hating Chad, we should pity him. He is so numb and dead inside that even love cannot make him feel.

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A Tale of Reality that Corporate America Denies or Covers Up
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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a great movie for the jaded
In the Company of Men is a wonderful movie that I watch at least twice a year. I first saw this movie at a University Film Festival. I was hooked. Not only does this movie reach me on an entertaining level but at the time it called up all sorts of feelings as myself and my buddies had been in a slump with the laddies. In fact, we made up a holliday called National I Hate Chicks Day. It is still celebrated every year, on March 13, all over the country where we all have landed. One of the festivaties that March 13 brings is a viweing of In The Company of Men.