1995 cinema brought us “The Young Poisoner’s Handbook.” Not to be outdone, 1997 brought us “The Young Sadist’s Handbook,” otherwise known as “In the Company of Men.”
Aaron Eckhart stars as Chad, the sadist. His character personifies everything that is evil, and some things that I previously didn’t know existed. Most frightening, however, are not Chad’s personal habits, but his surprisingly normal demeanor; if you don’t listen to what he says, Chad could be anyone.
This, apart from a terrifyingly real storyline, makes “Men” the most disturbing.
From what I’ve said so far, I’m afraid I’ve set this film up as the next installment of the “Jason” series. Not so! Chad and his less-sadistic friend Howard (Matt Malloy) are nothing but going-nowhere businessmen with a vendetta for everything female.
The opening scene shows Chad and Howard waiting at an airport, talking about how the world is unfair, and what they might do about it. Both have recently gotten out of bad relationships, they say, so have plenty of reason for retaliation. Howard, we soon learn, is little more than a chronic whiner and a follower, but Chad, faced with an unfriendly world, is prepared to take action.
To Howard’s surprise, he proposes this plan: the two men are two find a susceptible, unpopular female and, says Chad “preferably with some sort of physical problem.” They both date her, raising the ante on each other until she finds herself struggling to choose between them, when they both dump her, hard.
The pair are supposedly flying off to start a new branch of their company and return after six weeks; the perfect setting for their plan.
Once set up, it isn’t long before they find the ideal prey: a mildly attractive deaf secretary named Christine (Stacy Edwards). She is everything that Chad hoped for and more; he quickly asks her out, and prompts Howard to do the same.
The scheme goes exactly according to plan. They both date her, and she tries to handle them both, but can’t quite manage. Then, the unthinkable happens. Howard makes the mistake of actually falling in love with Christine, while Christine falls for Chad.
All this leads up to a spectacular, mind-blowing, unexpected conclusion to rival any movie finale in the history of the medium.
As with most small-budget art-house type films, the characterizations are the pride of “Men.” Eckhart plays his sadist amazingly, demanding compliance with his every whim from people that normally wouldn’t listen to him. He is the kind of person that few of us have met, but all of us know we don’t want to.
Malloy, as Chad’s weaker sidekick, is just as believable. Edwards, as the girl caught in between, holds her own against Eckhart, whish is no small feat. Because of her ability to maintain some sort of chemistry with both men, the movie is never boring, and always keeps the viewer guessing.
If you’re looking for a way to effectively ruin someone’s life, this movie should serve as a wonderful tutorial. And if you think the worst of it is detailed in this review, guess again.
Grade: A