Bad Company

I can hold my own with the guys. I worked in an environment over-saturated with testosterone, sarcastic chauvinism, c-word comments and the like and I was fine. In fact, some people might consider me to be just a crass on any given day of the week, so you know, whatever.

Because of my familiarity with this type of behavior, I’ve grown to accept it and I’ve actually come to really enjoy it. The novelty of outdated ideals portrayed in shows like AMC’s Mad Men really makes my day and it was for that reason that I chose to give In the Company of Men a fair shot.

Starring Aaron Eckhart and Matt Malloy, the 1997 film follows two middle managers of a generic company who have decided to seek revenge on females – for whatever reason – by breaking an innocent heart, more or less. The heart they choose is that of a deaf secretary on the 4th floor; a deliberate choice due to her inherent vulnerability and desperation to be loved and accepted despite her impairment (is that PC?).

The film started off strong and I really thought for a moment that Miles would be wrong and that I would enjoy it. Two guys shooting the shit about office politics in an airport terminal, rants about young up-and-coming salesmen and the occasional joke made in bad taste – all good things. But, then it began to plummet into this strange is-this-a-movie-or-is-this-a-play realm and the characters never developed any dimension.

There was no point to anything that these two guys did. They walked around saying stuff that was rude and sexist, but I could have come up with worse. What’s more, I didn’t give a shit about the chick. If the goal of the movie was to be a shocking look into the dark male psyche then this was a total failure. Or maybe I just thought guys were capable of greater (read: more cruel and terrible) things.

I know the director is. Neil LaBute was the saint that penned the incredible 2006 re-make, The Wicker Man. He will also be offering the upcoming Lakeview Terrace to clamoring viewers in coming weeks. Cruel indeed.

Miles, you were right. It was a complete bore. It wasn’t even bad enough to be good. The thought of Aaron Eckhart playing the polar opposite of Dent intrigued me, but I was greatly disappointed. Of course, there is the off-chance that my vagina distracted me. Maybe I was too busy making babies to pay attention to the plot. I might have missed something when I got up to eat some chocolate and gab on the phone about PMS issues too. Hmm. Yeah, maybe.