August: Osage County

First Hit:  Overly dramatic with dysfunctional characters and for a story that started as a black comedy it just stays black.

I’m not sure what it was I was supposed to see; a black comedy or drama. What I saw was a drama that was overly dramatic.

That the story, as presented, was not believable from the father dying (Why did he commit suicide?) to the newly discovered brother, it just seemed like a string of strong dramatic scenes. Violet, the mother, (Meryl Streep), and her three daughters Barbara (Julia Roberts), Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) and Karen (Juliette Lewis) are all together to honor Violet’s husband Beverly (Sam Shepard) who committed suicide.

The dinner with other relatives meeting at the house after the funeral is the time that is suppose to set up everything else in the film, but the way Violet and Barbara dominate the scenes it loses momentum. One character that seemed to find the right tone was Lewis as Karen the youngest daughter. Her looseness, attitude, and philosophy seemed to “get” the black comedy part of the script. Did I feel sad for Ivy? Yes, I thought her predicament of being the “one” who lived closest to her mom and having to be the go-to sister was difficult enough but then the information that her love was misplaced added to this tragic character. From the character standpoint I like her the best.

Streep, seemed to want to play this character as dark as possible with little thought towards seeing anyone else but herself. Just a glimpse of seeing would have helped the film. Her role seemed overly self-indulgent both character wise and story wise. Roberts was good and I enjoyed watching her, but it seemed she was taking Streep’s lead and over darkening her character. Nicholson, was someone the audience could actually care about and I liked her involvement. Lewis was both dark and funny. She was one of the best parts of this film. Margo Martindale playing Mattie Fae Aiken (Sister-in-law to Violet) was another role that seemed to overstep the bounds of the character. I could see her delivering what the director wanted and enjoying it, but…. Shepard was good in his very limited role but there wasn’t a reason for his actions. Tracy Letts wrote both the screenplay and play so there wasn’t a reason why it work from a scripting point of view. Therefore, it was the direction by John Wells that moved this film this way – poorly.

Overall:  Not a film I could recommend – it was forgotten the very next day.

The Company Men

First Hit: I’ve lived through the drama of losing a job through cutbacks and this film captures an effective slice of life.

Anyone who has lost a job by way of cutbacks in this economy will know how easy it is to become disenchanted and feel helpless about the future.

Although Bobby Walker (played by Ben Affleck) is only 37, even at his young age, he’s worried because “new college MBAs will work 90 hours a week for nothing”. Even though this film focuses on Bobby, but it also highlights the other tragedies of a company doing mass layoffs.

Phil Woodward (played by Chris Cooper) who started with the company as a welder on the floor and grew with the company to become a highly paid executive is now on the open job market, old, with no real education, and his severance won’t cover his expenses for very long. His story is a tragic one of living slightly beyond his means and not always being aware that a company doesn’t owe you a thing except the paycheck you take from it.

Then there is Gene McClary (played by Tommy Lee Jones) who is the best friend of the CEO, James Salinger (played by Craig T. Nelson), is President of the division who is hardest hit. Although he is financially alright, he is painfully affected because the initial layoffs are done behind his back and he thinks that “ethically”, the corporation is not doing what is right.

Bobby tries to keep up the image that he, and his family is fine, by getting the Porsche detailed and by playing golf at the country club. His wife Maggie (played by Rosemarie DeWitt) is supportive and practical and does her best to guide Bobby into making some rational decisions.

Maggie’s brother Jack Dolan (played by Kevin Costner) offers Bobby construction work and although he rudely declines at first, he takes Jack up on the offer and begins an understanding of their two different lives. One thing not directly discussed in this film was how people live too close to the edge of paycheck to paycheck.

All the stuff they collect along the way can lose its meaning quickly when the money stops rolling in.

Affleck is strong and believable in his anger and frustration at losing his high level job at GTX. DeWitt is fabulous and I really enjoyed her practical, centered and loving support of her husband and the situation. Cooper is, as always, intense and very believable as the guy who came up from the shop floor to be a formable executive. Jones is great as the conscious of the company and how he finds his way back into the game. Nelson is perfect as the arrogant CEO who forgot about how to look at the impact of his decisions to gain the most for himself and shareholders of which he is a very large shareholder. Costner is wonderful as the construction oriented brother in-law. John Wells both wrote and directed this film effectively and with care.

Overall: This film is reflective of how losing a job in a large company in rough economic times can be very difficult. Many people are simply one job away from living on the streets.