Bobby (Ben Affleck) is a 160 k/yr hot-shot 36-yo salesman for GTX Corp in their ships division when he and 5,000 other workers are laid off when the division is closed to improve the Co’s bottom line. His sales boss, Gene (Chris Cooper), follows shortly thereafter and the layoffs waged by the corp head (Craig T Nelson) and resisted by his oldest friend and right hand man (Tommy Lee Jones), make for the overview plot line showing how even those in the top decile are terribly vulnerable. All employees are simply widgets in this system Self-esteem, marriages, and families are challenged for all. Can you maintain your sense of self as the material goods of that identity become impossible to maintain?. Bobby’s bro-in-law, an irascible, hard-working, struggling, general contractor is played with a spotty and terrible Boston accent by Kevin Costner as someone who has always had a tough relationship with Bobby for his collaboration with a system outsourcing and downsizing. Eventually, after experiencing the agony of the downsize, Bobby has to go to him for work. An interesting film showing the often devastating effects of the hunt for corporate wealth and profits and the flow of more and more wealth and power to the top. And they like the power very much. A good. if not necessarily an entirely effective film. I find myself touched by Bobby’s wife. (Rosemary DeWitt) and kids as they struggle to make it and have to give up so much with commitment to one another (something Bobby learns)