John Wells not only wrote the script but made his directorial debut with this movie. He had previous experience as executive producer with extremely successful TV shows as The West Wing and ER, among many others. This is one tough cookie of a subject to tackle, due to the fact that it presents to the public the following dilemma: “Oh! Do you really want me to feel sorry for the misfortune of these white-collar fortunate? Really? Don’t you see I’m struggling myself?” versus “can you feel compassion in your heart, regardless of?”
But this is not the only aspect presented. Wells also explores in a very subtle and elegant way the gaps in terms of gender, generation, lifestyle, and values. The cast —Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Craig T. Nelson, Maria Bello and Rosemarie DeWitt– was superb and extremely believable in their roles. At the end of the movie they will have made you succumb to denial, lose your sense of self worth, deal with uncertainty, assert readiness from within, learn humbleness, respect dignity, acquire the basics to work in a new craft, handle multiple hats simultaneously, and reformulate what’s really important in life. Or maybe not!
I really liked the story presented, although some people have considered it a victim of clichés; something I found absolutely justified, considering that it is precisely in the corporate world that clichés are born, fed, and passed on to the new generations as part of their organizational culture.
In the end, nostalgia for the long gone American Dream will present the viewer with a second opportunity. In my opinion, each lesson learned must pass its fire drill and prove that things can actually be done in the right way. Some found this to be a rather unrealistic end but, I ask: don’t we all deserve second chances? We can only hope!