22. In the Company of Men

Neil LaBute’s In the Company of Men offers a wicked tale of two white males who emotionally toy with a mute co-worker. LaBute fittingly sets his portrait of power and manipulation in the cold, cruel corporate world where, as the lead character says, maintaining control is of the utmost importance.

In the Company of Men marked LaBute’s feature film debut and announced his presence as a filmmaker with an unflinching gaze and a lacerating sense of humor that could make audiences squirm. But then provoking a response is precisely what this BYU graduate wants to do. Filmmaking, as he defines it, “is a bit of a contact sport. I like to engage the audience rather than just take up 90 minutes of their time with fun and frivolity, and they go home not thinking about what they just saw.”

LaBute opens his film with Chad (Aaron Eckhart in a cold, cruel performance) and Howard, a pair of young white-collar executives, complaining about how women have just dumped them. Chad suggests that the only way to restore their dignity is to go out and “hurt somebody.” The plan involves finding a vulnerable woman, showering her with attention, making her fall in love with both of them and then dumping her. As Chad gleefully puts it, “She’ll be reaching for the sleeping pills within a week and we’ll laugh about it until we’re very old men.”

As the film progresses, we realize that Chad thrives on these power games and has an insatiable appetite for humiliating others. Like Chad, the film excels at manipulation and at staging scenes for maximum impact. As a director, LaBute displays a meticulous sense of control. But his true genius lies in his venomous pen. No other contemporary writer can create such unease and discomfort with just a few choice lines of dialogue. In an era of flashy special effects, LaBute reminds us of the power of talking pictures. (Beth Accomando)