Review of In Good Company (2004) by Ben F — 15 Jul 2010

I often wonder how movies relate to our lives. Do we leave our theaters and DVD dens disscussing them as works of art whose ideas do not extend beyond the worlds they create? Or perhaps, do films have the ability to affect how we live our lives for the better?

In the case of "In Good Company", which I have loved ever since I saw it with my parents five years ago (they say it was one of my first big boy movies), the answer is closer the latter, though not precisely. This past week, I worked as a counselor at Grace Art Camp. It is a job I love to do each summer, but it is not without its challenges and this week, I felt overwhelmend by the pressure to keep camp running smoothly.

Then at the peak of my anxiety, I heard a familiar song: "Solsbury Beach" by Peter Gabriel. It reminded me of "In Good Company" (the film features this tune prominently) and I eagerly popped the DVD into the player for the first time since my family's notoriously boiling vacation to Sun River.

For those not in the know (and if you are not, you ought to be ASAP), writer/director Paul Weitz's 2004 film is about two salesmen: the skilled veteran Dan (Dennis Quaid) and the young hotshot Carter (Topher Grace) who becomes Dan's unlikely boss. Watching their journey together with my current work experience in mind, I felt a new appreciation for their struggles with each other, their other co-workers, and their constant debate about how their company should be run to insure effective advertising results. So in a way, life that enhanced the film for me, rather than the other way around.

Yet "In Good Company" HAS enhanced my life for many years. It's about kids trying to take on adult roles before they're ready and adults to teach their actual and metaphorical kids while allowing them to grow on their own terms. These themes allow for plenty of crowd-pleasing comedy (Weitz neatly emphasizes the airy zaniness of the film's office building), but their chief appeal lies in the fact that they are touching and perceptive. I have learned much about the emotional power of meaningful and relatable storytelling from "In Good Company", but I watch not only to learn, but to be moved, especially by the final scene in which Quaid and Grace finally let down their guard and exchange a brief but heartfelt hug.

I know those are the kind of moments I want in my life.

****:).