In the Company of Men 1997

Critics score:
89 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Janet Maslin, New York Times: LaBute directs this low-budget film with such spareness and precision, using such minimal yet effective backdrops, that in retrospect his color film almost seems to have been in black and white. Its ideas are that stark. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: A dazzling, repellent exercise in which the case against men is closed before it's opened. Read more

Entertainment Weekly: Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Prepare for the conversation to grow heated. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: The strength of LaBute's conception every step of the way is in forcing the issue of where we belong in this picture -- with Chad, with Howard, or with Christine. Read more

Jeff Giles, Newsweek: LaBute, a playwright and former drama teacher, has succeeded in creating a study of banal, everyday evil. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: One of those rarest of rare breeds -- a movie that doesn't just ignore Hollywood conventions, but openly flouts them. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The kind of bold, uncompromising film that insists on being thought about afterward -- talked about, argued about, hated if necessary, but not ignored. Read more

Charles Taylor, Salon.com: In the Company of Men is a singularly unpleasant movie. And from the point that Chad and Howard settle on Christine, it's an increasingly unbelievable one, too. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: The three leads inhabit their roles in the way only unknown actors can. They really seem to become the characters they're playing. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Cruel, cool and pleasingly provocative. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: A dark, probing, truly disturbing exploration of yuppie angst and male anxieties as they manifest themselves in both the work and personal arenas. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: This is a fully realized movie, whose intelligence -- despite its grim findings -- dwarfs any Hollywood production. It's a film to admire -- even if it leaves you cold. Read more

Washington Post: Read more