Review of In Good Company (2000) by Doron K — 12 Sep 2007

Wrote this for Aint It Cool News after a test screening:

The cut we saw of In Good Company tonight seemed pretty final. Some scenes still needed color correction and sound mix adjustment, but overall it was pretty solid. First off let me say, I loved this movie. Nothing really amazing or academy award winning here, but it was just really enjoyable. In Good Company stars?wait, how bout I just paste the synopsis emailed to me:

Description: Filmmaker and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Paul Weitz (About a Boy) turns his complex sense of humor on In Good Company, an insightful comedy about the relationship between a 50-year-old businessman and his new, 26-year-old boss.

Dan Foreman (played by Dennis Quaid) is headed for a shakeup. He is demoted from head of ad sales for a major magazine when the company he works for is acquired in a corporate takeover. His new boss, Tom (played by Topher Grace) is half his age-a business school prodigy who preaches corporate Synergy. While Dan develops clients through handshake deals and relationships, Tom cross-promotes the magazine with the cell phone division and "Krispity Krunch," an indeterminate snack food under the same corporate umbrella.

Both men are going through turmoil at home. Dan has two daughters-Alex, age 18, and Jana, age 16-and is shocked when his wife tells him she's pregnant with a new child. Between college tuition, the mortgage and a new baby, Dan can't afford to lose his job in the wave of corporate layoffs. Tom, in the meanwhile, is dumped by his wife of seven months just as he gets his promotion. Dan and Tom's uneasy friendship is thrown into jeopardy when Tom falls for, and begins an affair with, Dan's daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson). Weitz's examination of life's surprises, ironies and coincidences combine to form In Good Company.

The film is written and directed by Paul Weitz and produced by Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz.

I loved the relationship between Topher Grace and Dennis Quaid in this movie. I completely expected this to be another one of those immature rivalry movies where they pull pranks on each other to get the other fired, but what they did instead was create a great analysis of the different mindsets of the older and younger generations. The movie was also very funny. Everyone, especially Topher Grace, had great comedic timing and many of the lines were hilarious. Scarlett Johansson did an okay job, I was kind of disappointed with her performance. I loved her in Lost in Translation, but in this film she seemed very much like a robot spitting out lines. I do think she and Topher Grace had great chemistry though. Overall, In Good Company is a well done relationship movie that happens to be very funny. I don?t know why, but I can?t call it a comedy. I think that might be because I enjoyed watching the characters just as much as the funny stuff; which is very rare these days. I?d definitely recommend seeing this when it comes out (December 29th I believe).