Company Man

An all-star cast clearly having a great time can't prevent the disappointing self-destruction of this espionage-angled screwball comedy about a hapless sissy of a grammar teacher who stumbles into a CIA job in Cold War Cuba and causes the Bay of Pigs fiasco. While the first 40 minutes are a laugh riot as overly-enthusiastic Agent Quimp (co-director Douglas McGrath) explains to a secret Senate committee how he masterminded some of the legendary real-life black ops against Castro (poisoned cigars, LSD, hair remover, etc.), at about the halfway mark Company Man runs out of witty gags and turns uncontrollably imbecilic. The initially likable players (who become quickly grating when the movie sours) include a hilarious, ad-lib-crazy Woody Allen as Quimp's oblivious commander, Sigourney Weaver as Quimp's fussy wife, Alan Cumming as fey and flamboyant General Batista and Denis Leary as a double-agent driven to confession by Quimp's incessant grammar corrections. Since half a movie does not a recommendation make, this one's not a necessary purchase. (R. Blackwelder)