The Company Men. This movie focuses in on a group of upper middle class and wealthy individuals that are laid-off during our Great Recession. It follows three main characters. Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) who is a relatively young mid-level sales executive, Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) who is an older mid-level executive and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) who is a top executive. All three are let go as their company attempts to increase its share price and prepare for being bought out. Gene McClary obviously isn't impacted financially by his firing as he is a multi-millionaire just based on his stock holdings, but we watch as Bobby and Phil must deal with a new reality of unemployment.
I really enjoyed this movie. If you read my blog regularly, you know I am fascinated by economics. Unlike the documentary "Inside Job" or the movie "Wall Street 2," this movie takes a larger view of the economic crisis. "Inside Job" and "Wall Street 2" focus blame only on Wall Street. This movie takes the time to place the blame at the feet of everyone. Throughout the movie, in the background, you hear commentary regarding Wall Street and our government; however, in the conversations (especially those between Bobby and his wife) you learn of the mistakes made by folks who used to make high income salaries. Bobby Walker quickly faces financial distress faces upon getting laid off driven by over-consumption. A house that was around 5x his income and the fact that the only way the family could afford it was via an ARM loan that was about to re-set. A Porsche with a huge monthly loan payment. Golf Club fees. And simply no savings.
No comments:
Post a Comment