The complexity nature between men and women are very troubling, especially when it comes to the subject of who is more superior which ends up becoming an endless argument over nothing. Sure, some women aren’t great human beings and men aren’t either. Sexism is a subject not many could tolerate nor would want to get into without insulting anyone. Then there’s writer Neil LaBute, whose story of adults are filled with harrowing, intense moments that gets uncomfortable in its subject matter with films like “The Shape of Things” and “Your Friends & Neighbors”. In 1997, LaBute grabbed one of his earlier plays that he adapted into a script and directed the project in one of the most controversial films of the 1990s entitled “In the Company of Men”.

“In the Company of Men” is about two male corporate executives, angered by their rejection from women, decided to pull a prank on a vulnerable women just to hurt her for their own enjoyment during their six-week business trip. Made only for $25,000 and shot in 11 days, “In the Company of Men” has plot twists and emotionally-intense scenes that are so powerful, it gives out the feeling of loathing towards the film’s central characters. Playing the corporate executives is Aaron Eckhart (a LaBute regular) as the slimy Chad and Matt Malloy as the meek Howard and in the role of the vulnerable woman deaf-woman Christine is Stacy Edwards. LaBute doesn’t offer up anything easy and just goes for the pain in his malicious film. While it’s a film that is very uneasy to watch, “In the Company of Men” is one of the seminal and reactionary films of the 1990s.

The film begins as a corporate executive in his 30s named Howard meets his old college buddy Chad in an airport as they prepare to leave for a six-week business trip. Howard tells Chad that his girlfriend just rejected him and Chad tells him that his girlfriend himself has rejected him. Chad is angered by the way women treats men as he’s also trying to deal with young corporate guys trying to get their jobs and beat up the old guys. Chad and Howard discuss their rejection and how women hurt them as Chad decided to play a game during their trip. He decides that he and Howard go find a vulnerable woman in the workplace for the six-week trip, treat her nice for a while and by the final week, hurt her. Howard at first isn’t sure if he wants to do this but in the end, he goes along for the ride.

The first week begins as Howard leads charge of the building of the corporate office while Chad finds a woman to give files too but she doesn’t hear him. He goes to a colleague named John (Mark Rector) who reveals that the woman named Christine is deaf and can only communicate by reading lips. Chad has found his victim as he asks her out on a date and tells Howard about it as she told him her background and all sorts of stuff. Howard couldn’t believe it as he asks Christine out and treats her nicely while giving her the chance to talk in her high-nasally pitch. By the next few weeks, Christine felt that Chad and Howard have treated her nicely as the two talk about their dates and wonder when it’s the time to hurt her. Howard all of a sudden, was starting to have real feelings for her.

One night during a date, Chad and Christine talk as he plays the lothario role on him and she starts to fall for him, even as they sneak off from work just to have sex in a hotel room. Howard is starting to fall for Christine where in one point, he goes to the zoo with her to see animals on a car as he apologizes to her for being late and she said it’s ok. One day as Chad and Christine have lunch, Howard accidentally sees them and Christine felt really bad as Chad was like “Hey, this is Howard. My buddy and boss right now” as Howard was wondering if he’s being played himself. With the final week approaching, Howard comes to a dilemma whether he should tell Christine about the truth and is Chad really in love with her or is he playing a game on just Christine or both her and Howard?

Neil LaBute’s brash, abrasive script and fluent direction is filled with gripping, emotional moments that is like a roller coaster with leaps and bounds that wonders what’s going to happen next. LaBute doesn’t play sympathy to either gender (except for the character of Stacy). Instead, LaBute just plays to these roles in its most sour, malicious tone that almost to the point, the audience has no sense of feeling but loathing. Even the film’s center backdrop of the corporate office is filled with ambiguities as the two central male characters aren’t just fighting with women but their existence against young interns. It’s not just a film about survival and the evils that you have to do to survive in the world. LaBute plays to the intensity with the scratchy, low-colored cinematography of Tony Hettinger that serves a purpose to the bland world of Corporate America as well as the tribal-pounding jazz score of Karel Roessingn and Ken Williams.

While the cast is very small with many extras and small players, the film does feature some great performances that are very reactionary in a positive and negative way. While Stacy Williams doesn’t exactly do much in her performance, she does bring in a minimalist, uneasy performance as the victim Christine. Even when she speaks in that nasally-pitch (she’s not deaf in real-life), she doesn’t try to make you laugh but make sure her character is sympathetic. Williams was indeed given something very uncomfortable but it’s amazing to play a character in that vulnerable position that’s about to become a victim is indeed a revelation. Williams gave something very memorable in a role not many would want to play.

Matt Malloy’s performance as the meeker Howard at times is sympathetic when he really plays nicely to Williams’ Christine character but in the truth of it all, the character is a jerk. It’s not because he has this distrust and fear of women that is ugly but for the fact that he was willing to play along with the game. Then once he tries to stop playing and get real, you see what consequences he’s forced to suffer. It’s not that his character is a jerk to women (including his own mother in one scene) but also to co-workers as he’s trying to run a project. Malloy definitely gives a superb performance to a character that is likeable but also unlikable at the same time.

The film’s best performance overall, even as you loathe that character, is Aaron Eckhart in the role as the slimy, sexist, evil Chad. Eckhart can play a nice guy in his scenes with Williams but you know it’s an act once you see it and at times, he manages to be a convincing nice guy. Eckhart’s performance is one you just love to hate as its not just women he degrades but in one scene, he actually makes a male intern drop his pants just to humiliate him. Eckhart’s Chad character is a class-act *sshole who really makes you not just want to loathe men but almost to the point that you want to blow up their genitals and grind them up bad. Hell, his performance makes me want to do that to myself. Eckhart is extremely convincing although you have to feel sorry for the dude in real life as at one point, a woman told Eckhart “I hate you” as he tries to tell her that he was playing a character and she wasn’t convinced. Though it garnered him a much-deserved Independent Spirit Award, Eckhart unfortunately became a new enemy among women.

“In the Company of Men” is certainly a film that you might not want to watch again or after repeated viewings. Still, it’s a harrowing, confrontational masterpiece that reveals the cruelty among human beings. While it’s true that not all men are jerks or *ssholes, this film really justifies their awful behavior. While the film does feature great performances from Aaron Eckhart, Matt Malloy, and Stacy Edwards, the film does make you forget that it’s a movie although the tone of the film is very real. For a debut feature, it’s one of the best and Neil LaBute does an amazing job. For ladies that want to see movies that make them want to kill men, “In the Company of Men” is the film to watch, and maybe after that, you probably don’t want to see it again.

Neil LaBute Film Reviews:

Your Friends & Neighbors (1998):

(Coming Soon)

Nurse Betty (2000):

(Coming Soon)

The Shape of Things (2003):

http://www.epinions.com/content_147849383556


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age