Main Cast: Douglas McGrath, Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro, Anthony LaPaglia, Ryan Phillippe
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 86 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
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, All Movie Guide
Review
An occasionally strained but overall agreeable farce, this joint effort by Peter Askin and actor/writer/director Douglas McGrath recalls films such as Dick (1999) and The Impostors (1998) in its resignation to the sillier side of revisionism. The film is visually flat, but the material produces many happy surprises, most notable in its wonderfully game cast, which includes terrific turns by Sigourney Weaver (a woefully underused comic talent), the always inventive John Turturro, and an unbilled Woody Allen, who is great fun in a surprisingly relaxed and sharply witty turn. At 81 minutes, the movie still seems slightly padded, but it's awfully hard to knock a film with such an admiration for vaudeville, and the genial tone of the movie prevents it from being too abrupt. It's a feature that is eager to please, and if one can appreciate its indulgences, it offers a healthy number of well-earned laughs. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
Patricia Woodbridge - Art Director, Robert Greenhut - Co-producer, Matt Williams - Co-producer, Nigel Sinclair - Co-producer, Susan Cartsonis - Co-producer, Jon Ein - Co-producer, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, Peter Askin - Director, Douglas McGrath - Director, Camilla Toniolo - Editor, Jane Musky - Production Designer, Russell Boyd - Cinematographer, James W. Skotchdopole - Producer, Guy East - Producer, John Penotti - Producer, Rick Leed - Producer, Tod A. Maitland - Sound/Sound Designer, Peter Askin - Screenwriter, Douglas McGrath - Screenwriter
In the 1960's, Alan Quimp is a school teacher of English grammar and married with the very demanding woman Daisy Quimp . In order to avoid the constant mockery in Daisy's family, Alan says that he is a secret CIA agent. Daisy tells everybody, the CIA acknowledges the lie, but due to a coincidence, Alan has just helped and hidden the professional Russian dancer Petrov who wanted to leave Russia. The CIA decides to hire Alan as an agent, to get the credits of bringing Petrov to USA, and immediately decides to send him to a very calm place, Cuba.
Box office
According to IMDb, film's budget was $16,000,000 (estimated). Film grossed only $146,028 in USA.
