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Released by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Released on: 6/7/2011
Director: John Wells
Cast: Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones
Year: 2010
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The Movie:
This story takes place amidst all the layoffs and down-sizing when the market crashed in 2009, leaving many people without jobs. For this tale, a big corporation fires Bobby (Ben Affleck) from his six-figure a year sales management job. He lives in a big house, drives a Porche, has a trophy wife, and a perfect kids- one of each of course. He also has an attitude and high opinion of himself and spends the rest of the movie letting his nose drop and gaining some humility.
Meanwhile, Chris Cooper is in fear of his job and along with Tommy Lee Jones gets some news neither wants to hear. Jones, being the friend of the company owner as well as its first employee, feels guilty about what has happened and dislikes the direction the company is going, whereas his boss, Craig T. Nelson, sees it as business and doesn't let his conscious take over his business sensibilities. Bobby finally takes a contracting work his brother-in-law offers, said brother-in-law being Kevin Costner, and learns a valuable lesson along the way.
Yeah, it's that kind of movie. Everything's roses, then hardship, then denial, then acceptance, tragedy strikes, then chin up and learn valuable life skills, then get back on the road to the roses. So it's a drama that sort of tackles the aftermath in a few lives affected by the financial crisis the United States is currently in. Of course the characters in the story are mostly high paid executive types that the majority of the population can't relate with. It's difficult to feel sorry for someone who makes $150,000 a year losing their job and being forced to sell the things that they didn't need and couldn't afford, thus living above their means. That right there is the real trouble with this picture. There's alienation between the audience and the players on the screen. Ben Affleck's character is a pompous kind of guy who thinks flashy looks is all that matters in life. Tommy Lee Jones is a two-timing slut, so he gets what's coming to him. Craig T. Nelson's character is not supposed to be liked, as he's the evil corporation CEO. Chris Cooper plays a self-piteous guy who thinks he's entitled just because he worked his way up from the factory. Maria Bello is the one firing everyone AND sleeping with Tommy Lee Jones, so who cares what happens with her. The only two people in this movie that are likeable are Rosemarie Dewitt as Affleck's wife and surprisingly Kevin Costner as the Massachusetts contractor. He's a dick too, but a much more likeable dick than Ben Affleck's character.
The movie takes place in Massachusetts, and we get to see how dreary it gets in New England in the late fall, winter, and early spring, and being shot in Mass., those familiar with Boston will recognize some landmarks. This film is made really well, with nice camera work, good editing, and a well laid-out story. The acting is great, as there are some heavy weights in here and it's a nice tight movie. The subject matter is something that hits home with a lot of people, its just that the type of people the story follows aren't ones most people can relate with. Maybe if they went down a bit, more toward how the “middle class†has been impacted, the story would have had a bigger impact.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The disc delivers a very nice 1080p AVC encoded image with an aspect of 1.78:1. The colors look great and the image is very clear and detailed, with nice black levels. Tommy Lee Jones has a great face for HD and this picture shows every wrinkle and bumpy contour in the man's mug. An overall pleasing video presentation with no disc issues to mention. The audio is a 5.1 DTSHD Master Audio track that sounds great when the music is playing, with a room filling robust sound, but when the dialogue occurs it gets very quiet. So the volume needs to be cranked up to hear it, but then get your ears raped when the music kicks back in. The result is annoying. Whether this is an authoring issue or sound design issue remains to be seen. No problems to mention otherwise.
The supplemental material includes an audio commentary by the writer/director and he fills the running time with lots of information, including the shooting and assembly of the movie and the research he did preparing the story. He's pleasant to listen to and has plenty to say to fans of commentaries. Also included are an alternate ending, some deleted scenes (which give a little clarity to a couple of questions that came to mind when watching the feature), and lastly a short making of, which is run of the mill. It's a decent batch of extras that add to the value of the package for certain.
The Final Word:
A well made movie with a strong cast, but with really just kind of a ho-hum end result. Strong video presentation and ample extras help to bring the overall release up a few more levels. If you like a laid back drama with no real twists and turns, this one might appeal to you.
