Des hommes d'affaires

L'approche classique, presque clinique du sujet, la photographie intelligemment calibrée au neutre de Roger Deakins ainsi que le jeu sans ostentation des interprètes, donnent presque à The Company Men valeur de document historique.

The Company Men is both an implied critique of omnivorous capitalism and a call for a return to the days when people built things with their hands, with commensurate salaries and satisfactions. That is, it is at once false, idealistic and satisfying, both as an instrument of schadenfreude and a Hollywood version of the new reality.

The Company Men is an attempt to put an on-going reality on the screen. Wells has the star-power and performances, but crafts a predictable story with story points that audience members can forecast from the start. As compelling as the actors may be, they'll always fall flat without a solid and interesting story backing them up.

While Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones turn in sterling performances, the lot of their characters is so blessed, it can be hard to sympathize with their fall.

Malgré une réalisation un peu terne de John Wells et une finale un brin moralisatrice, The Company Men pose un regard suffisamment juste et pertinent sur la condition de travailleur.

Manquant de rythme, de tonus, jetant en passant un regard quelque peu caricatural sur les femmes et porté par une mise en scène purement fonctionnelle, le film construit poussivement son discours en enfonçant trop de portes ouvertes.