In the Company of Men (1997)

Neil LaBute's disturbing and corrosively funny debut feature is pure dynamite as a character study and investigation of the mindset of the corporate male (or perhaps the male in general). As both writer and director, LaBute gives his leading characters enough detail to emerge as flesh-and-blood people rather than caricatures of Bad Men, and Aaron Eckhart and Matt Malloy make the most of their material as Chad and Howard, the yuppies who seek to win and then crush the affections of a hearing impaired co-worker. In this story, Chad and Howard's humanity doesn't redeem them; in fact, they seem all the more repulsive for it, especially Howard, initially the more benign member of the pair, whose fear and distrust of women becomes as ugly as Chad's more obvious misogyny. While Stacy Edwards isn't given as much to do, she makes Christine well-rounded enough to have her own complement of virtues and flaws. The starkly beautiful images evoke Edward Hopper's paintings of urban isolation, as they enhance the film's tone of clinical and sterile detachment. In the company of men of course carries a double meaning, as the movie indicts American corporate culture as much as (or more than) men as a gender. If you wanted to kick start a heated debate about gender issues at the end of the 20th century, one viewing of this movie gave you all the encouragement you needed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide