There is nothing particularly wrong with The Company Men, a film addressing with a decent amount of honesty, the humiliating effect job loss had on people during this recent recession; but then again, there is also nothing that great about it. The Company Men safely moves, from start to finish, on a path that is completely expected – no surprises or originality. Its saving grace are good performances by its all-star cast, including and led by Ben Affleck, who definitely made a comeback with a strike of several good movies (acting and/or directing) in recent years.
The other issue with The Company Men is that it focuses primarily on the higher paid jobs loss; the Crème de la Crème who, on one hand, have their luxurious lifestyle most affected by the crisis (the higher one is positioned, the greater the fall), yet are most remote from the average Joe who, rather than worrying about losing his mansion and porsche, is worrying about feeding his family.
All in all I find the 2009 Up In The Air more original and effective in painting the gloomy picture of this particular recession and job loss. On the positive side, a recession, much like a war, is a testing crisis for a nation; and the film industry, much like with war, starts to produce movies about it when it senses the war is about to be over. So if this is any sign at all, it looks like, aside of the economical recovery signs, the movie industry is signaling the end of the recession is near...