'Men' makes for meandering minds

Editor’s Note: Ten-Year Itch is a weekly column focusing on a film or album at least 10 years old and deserving of a second look.
There are dark comedies, and then there are dark comedies.
The kind of film that leaves the viewers in need of a showers to wash away the shameful enjoyment they just received from watching it.
Neil Labute’s debut feature film from 1997, “In the Company of Men,” falls into the latter category, leaving its audience with post viewing, grimy feelings.
Chad (Aaron Eckhart) and Howard (Matt Malloy) are mid-level management types who get dispatched from their big-city corporate office to another branch in some podunk Midwest town for six weeks. Pre-departure, the two men begin discussing women as Chad shares his displeasure with recently being dumped and a plan he has formulated to even the scales with the opposite sex.
Chad proposes to Howard they find an underappreciated woman at the new branch, one they can both begin relationships with. The two will shower her with gifts and love, only to end the whole thing at the same time after she falls for either of the two, just to see her break down. Howard is no match for   Chad’s manipulative, snake-like charms and reluctantly agrees.  
Upon arrival, Chad seizes upon an unexpected opportunity ¬— a charming deaf woman.
The woman, Christine, is played by Stacy Edwards. Her character is eloquent and articulate in conversations, but at work as a typist, she keeps headphones on to take attention away from her impairment. She is flattered with the new attention and grows to enjoy it, but she has trouble keeping two boyfriends as Chad begins to become the one she has eyes for.
Obviously, this whole ordeal does not end well, and this column will not say for which of the characters, because it may come as a surprise.
Labute’s film (which he adapted from his original play) is an eye-opening look at the trials of mid-90s corporate America along with the notion of why we make the decisions we do.
Eckhart’s Chad is an interesting character as he weasels his way in and out of confrontations, all of which he has set up for his own amusement. Howard and Christine are not people to him, only puppets. They are there to serve as cogs in his own twisted form of amusement. Their emotions do not matter to him, as he has few of his own. The only thing driving him is pleasure, which he absorbs from having others under his thumb.
This film does not demand repeat viewings because of laughs or tender moments. However, it is compelling in the fact it makes the viewer think long after the credits roll. Labute has given the viewer these complex characters almost as a dare. It is frightening to watch these characters do unforgiveable, treacherous things, allowing the viewer see bits of themselves exaggerated.
Labute’s dialogue is witty and unforced, and the low-budget production adds to the seediness of the film. Immediately post-viewing, it is easy to have strong, positive feelings about the film, knowing which characters to loathe.
Only after an hour or two will questions be asked about characters’ intentions, sexuality and corporate America.
Labute’s debut is a truly thought-provoking film.