‘In Good Company’ - Just plain good

The corporate world can be a cruel place. After all, some people refer to it as the rat race. Today, it is a world of corporate takeovers, down-sizing and buzzwords like “synergy.” In “In Good Company,” Dan Foreman, the ad sales manager for a Sports Illustrated type magazine, learns about the new corporate world order when the company that owns the magazine is bought by a Rupert Murdoch/Richard Branson type. Foreman is reduced to being a salesman while a young hotshot, Carter Duryea, played by Topher Grace, comes in as the new ad sales manager. The story then focuses on Foreman and Duryea adjusting to each other and their new positions in life.

Foreman has a great wife, two teenage daughters and a baby on the way, so getting demoted with the threat of getting fired at any moment is uncomfortable to say the least. Duryea has a great new job and a brand new Porsche but he also has a brand new divorce and no earthly idea of what he is doing in his new job. Duryea seems to want success, but as the movie rolls along we find that he wants success for approval and he wants approval from Foreman, who becomes a surrogate father of sorts. I can’t imagine this movie being pitched to the studios, but kudos to the suits that had the guts to make such a small but ultimately successful (in making its points, if not box office wise) film.

There is nothing spectacular in “In Good Company,” but everything is good. The performances from Quaid and Grace are solid, as is Scarlett Johannsen’s portrayal of Quaid’s college-age daughter and Grace’s secret lover. Dennis Quaid seemed to re-emerge in Hollywood with his performance in “The Rookie” and it is a pleasure to see him back on the screen. Grace, star of “That 70s Show,” has some of the best comedic timing in the business and he gets to show this off as well as his acting chops in this film. If he continues to choose the right projects, we will undoubtedly see more of him in the years to come.

The direction by Paul Weitz (“About a Boy”) is also flawless. In fact, “In Good Company” is like a Cameron Crowe film (“Jerry Maguire,” “Say Anything”) in that it has elements of comedy, drama and romance all set to a particularly good soundtrack. It was refreshing to see a movie that didn’t feel like it had been made a million times already. Though it discussed ideas that are fairly acceptable (be good to people and customers, respect your elders, money isn’t all that matters), it didn’t feel preachy. It felt nice.

“In Good Company” is a nice movie and it would be nice to see more movies like this.