Company Man (2000)

14% of critics liked it
(63 reviews)
39% of users liked it
(1,368 ratings)

Former Woody Allen collaborator Douglas McGrath co-wrote, co-directed, and stars in this historical screwball comedy that offers up its own creative suggestion as to what might have spurned 1961's Bay of Pigs invasion. McGrath plays Allen Quimp, a nebbish schoolteacher who -- in an attempt to… More Former Woody Allen collaborator Douglas McGrath co-wrote, co-directed, and stars in this historical screwball comedy that offers up its own creative suggestion as to what might have spurned 1961's Bay of Pigs invasion. McGrath plays Allen Quimp, a nebbish schoolteacher who -- in an attempt to appease his browbeating wife Daisy (Sigourney Weaver) -- boasts that he leads a double life as a CIA operative. Daisy immediately sets to work writing a tell-all biography, and as his rumor spreads, Quimp bumbles his way into working at an actual CIA post in Cuba. There, he's confronted by a Cold War vigilante (John Turturro) who enlists his help in taking down the country's communist strongman, Fidel Castro (Anthony LaPaglia). Company Man was co-written and co-directed by New York stage director Peter Askin; both Askin and McGrath sued the film's production company in 1999 when, they claimed, the privilege of editing the final cut was denied to them. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 26 min.
Directed By: Peter Askin, Doug McGrath
Written By: Peter Askin, Doug McGrath, Douglas McGrath
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 9, 2001 Limited
On DVD: Aug 28, 2001
Studio: Paramount Classics

Critic Reviews

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
McGrath can't decide if he wants the movie to be a satire or a broad farce.
Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News
Given the disastrous state of the final product, it's hard not to wonder if it was worth all the blood, sweat and celluloid.
Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
This movie looks and feels so retro, so unrelentingly unironic, that the very guilelessness of it makes you want to giggle.
Cody Clark, Mr. Showbiz
The rapid-fire gags are relentlessly cute and announce themselves with all the subtlety of a pounding headache.
Mike Clark, USA Today
Second-rate fare.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Company Man is to filmmaking what Molotov cocktails are to social gatherings.
Beth Pratt, Common Sense Media
Political '60s spoof won't interest most teens.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
There's an air of old-fashioned, if somewhat stale, innocence that hovers over "Company Man " as its singular saving grace for being merely a jumble of bland sketch comedy skits.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
The so-called jokes and gimmicks seem recycled from the worst of the 1960s.
Brent Simon, Entertainment Today
A breezy, originally plotted film... [sunk] by its jitterbug tone and McGrath's jittery screen presence.
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
McGrath aims for the humor of early Woody Allen. He doesn't even achieve the humor of early Austin Powers.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Wit is drowned out by caricature, and the antics become laboriously over-the-top.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
With its incredible vanishing hero and its forgettable jokes, there's nothing to stick with you, nothing that sticks out enough to recommend.
Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The story is thin, and the film looks as if it was thrown together on a whim.
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
I'm astonished that even at 81 minutes the film contained not even one little chuckle.