In Good Company Review
by Mark R. Leeper (markrleeper AT yahoo DOT com)February 5th, 2005
IN GOOD COMPANY
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: This is an amiable comedy-drama about
corporate politics and about personal relationships.
Dennis Quaid plays the middle-aged manager of the
advertising department of a leading sports magazine.
A managerial shakeup demotes him and leaves him
working for a man about half his age with no
experience at all. But it is worse than that.
The new boss is actually romantically attracted
to Quaid's daughter. The characterizations are
fresh and story is not the cliché one might expect.
Even the view of corporate life rings true.
Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
Dan Foreman (played by Dennis Quaid) is a somewhat complacent middle-aged salesman of advertising space for a major sports magazine. He has a casual approach to selling and to life. Then in one day his world his rocked. His wife Ann (Marg Helgenberger of CSI) tells him she is pregnant and it looks like at work he will soon go from being laid back to being laid off. There has been a major reorganization of his area and his job has been given to a man about half his age, Carter Duryea (Topher Grace). Duryea is a rising hot shot being "groomed" for bigger things. He is coming off a major success, positioning cell phone to be sold to children, and he is being given a plum by upper management. The plum is, unfortunately, Dan Foreman's job. Dan will report to Carter. Together they are assigned to liquidating most of the department. Dan is asked to play in a world of aggressive tactics. He envies Carter's youth--Carter is 26, little more than half of Dan's age. Dan resents Carter's political power. On the other hand Carter envies Dan his family. Carter's marriage is dissolving and he is nearly friendless. What Dan does not know, and what would infuriate him even more, is that Dan's daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson) and Carter are attracted to each other. The result is a conflict of business philosophies, of personalities, and of generations. We have a personality dynamic that could have come from an M. C. Escher painting. Carter is a success above Dan in the business world. Dan is above his loyal and loving daughter Alex in the family. But Alex seems to have it all over Carter in sophistication. When they are together Carter is like a little boy and Alex is unflappably suave.
The easy shot would be to make Carter a completely unsympathetic character. But that is not the shot that writer/director Paul Weitz (AMERICAN PIE, ABOUT A BOY) took. The viewer finds himself sympathetic to both sides of the conflict. Carter is a sensitive man and one who actually is well-intentioned. Sure, he would like to be successful, but he lacks the killer instinct that so many of his backers have. He is painfully aware that he is a pawn carrying out orders that are hurting the people who work for him. Against type he has become the corporate hatchet man. The real power behind the hatchet is a legendary and ruthless tycoon, Teddy K (Malcolm McDowell), for whom Dan and Carter and just about everybody else works. Teddy K's name is spoken in hushed tones in what outwardly is supposed to look like respect, but it is really in fear and distaste. We see only his picture until toward the end of the film. Then we see what he really is and how he thinks. People who have not been in the corporate world may think that his character is overstated. They would be wrong. I can tell you that I have been in meetings with executives who were Teddy K under a different name. His characterization is entirely on-target and nearly letter perfect.
The characters and the story of IN GOOD COMPANY have qualities not usually found in major studio productions these days. It is a dependent film with the heart of an independent one. For my tastes this is a film just about on a par with the perhaps over- rated SIDEWAYS. I am impressed that Universal is back to making some films that are not obvious candidates to be the big blockbuster of the month. I rate IN GOOD COMPANY a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.
Mark R. Leeper
[email protected] Copyright 2005 Mark R. Leeper
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
