The Company Men

Last weekend we saw "The Company Men", a movie on modern day corporate life set during the 2008 and 2009 recession.

It is a beautifully filmed and narrated story set during that time, and the impact of job loss on the lives of the characters. The film touches very briefly on management greed and the unremitting pressure of financial performance from share-holders and the "market", but in the most it keeps to its core of focusing on the lives of its protagonists. It illustrates the collapse of inherent mental models and the change in each person as they go through experiences that are probably getting universal. The “job for life” ethos that our parent’s generation lived through is coming to an end in most parts of the world, as even Government jobs are no longer sacrosanct. The confusion and perplexity that besets the characters as they try and make sense of events out of their control, and their efforts to rationalize them as they unfold, is engrossing.

We saw the film as a family, and we loved it. Its unhurried pace and its unfolding storyline had us enthralled, and what was even better was that it kept to its promise of authenticity. There were no dramatic turnarounds and no miraculous escapes – just life as it unravels for most people. We could identify with a plethora of characters, just as we could with the various emotions, since they were the most human of reactions. From anger to non-acceptance to shame, and then to the eventual recognition of the need to survive.

The film also touched upon some key sentiments at a subliminal level. How our jobs, not only provide a means to a living, but have evolved to providing significance to our existence itself. The very act of getting dressed every morning and driving to work provides a purpose, bereft of which, it strips one off their individuality. We are what we do. What would we be, if we did not go to work every day?

The movie illuminated the importance that we give to material possessions that surround us, and our unwillingness to let them go. Our house, our car, the school’s our children go to, club memberships, all provide a snapshot to the world of where we stand on the material index. It is deemed unfathomable to relinquish these, having achieved a particular level, but at what cost? As much as anything else, these paradigms define us and shape our lives through the unconscious decisions that we make. They express to the world how we view ourselves.

The movie also showed the role of family, and the impact of the family’s support or the lack of it, on the different characters. Probably more than anything else, this aspect of one’s life defines eventual success or failure as different reactions lead to divergent decisions. The need to keep up appearances, denial, and ego add pressure to an already extreme situation, whereas acceptance and pragmatism overcome most hurdles.

To sum it up, an eminently watchable movie, and definitely one that will provide fodder for conversation with friends.