Release Date: December 29, 2004
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson, Selma Blair, Marg Helgenberger
Directed by: Paul Weitz
Written by: Paul Weitz
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (sexual content, drug references)
It’s a healthy thing to surround yourself with good people, as writer-director Paul Weitz’s In Good Company demonstrates, both in front of and behind the camera. One of the movie’s biggest themes is synergy -- working together to achieve a goal any one individual would have otherwise been incapable of -- and Weitz apparently took this to heart while making the film, hiring the likes of Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, and Scarlett Johansson to play his characters. They’re basically thrown into a plot jumbled with family drama, middle-age humor, forbidden romance, and corporate corruption, a story that never fully accomplishes what it wants to, and at points it doesn’t even seem to even know what that is -- but one that is nevertheless watchable because of the charisma and talent onscreen.
Quaid plays a 51-year-old father of two, the best character of the movie. His name is Dan Foreman, and the fact that he is so comfortable with his life immediately makes him very likeable. This is a guy who has just found out his college-age daughter Alex (Johansson) wants to transfer to NYU, perhaps the most expensive education money can buy; his wife (Marg Helgenberger) is pregnant; and he’s in danger of losing his job after his company merges with a huge corporate conglomerate. Also: His new boss, Carter Duryea (Grace), is nearly 30 years his junior and is as cocky as they come. Despite all of this, though, Foreman keeps his head up and a good sense of humor.
There is strong potential in the stark contrast between Dan and Carter. The former is a weathered veteran who has conducted himself honorably at his job and at home, and the latter is a self-centered hotshot who has no clue about what’s important in life: Carter has just broken up with his wife of eight months (Selma Blair). But it isn’t long before he forms a partnership with Dan and starts learning valuable lessons.
He latches onto the Foreman family, and, in the clumsiest part of the story, he and Alex fall in love. The romance isn’t as important as Quaid’s character’s arc, and it’s never established as more than a fling between two young lovers. Worse yet, when Dan discovers the relationship between Carter and Alex, the story doesn’t know where to go: Does the conflict further improve Carter’s sensibilities, or does it help Dan realize something? Ultimately, it doesn’t really do either, or anything at all.
In Good Company is watchable, despite its narrative missteps, because of Quaid’s natural ease, which is complemented by Topher Grace and Scarlett Johansoon (though only when they’re interacting with Quaid, not each other). Similar to the characters they play, the two young stars are learning from the veteran Quaid, and because of that their relationships with him are both believable and emotionally effective. We truly believe that Dan Foreman is a happy family man, and that the other two admire him for it. And so we are able to enjoy watching Dan show his fatherly love for Alex, and prove to Carter the value of married life -- or as Dan calls it, finding the right person to “be in the foxhole with.”
It’s clear who Weitz needs in his foxhole: A talented ensemble of actors, who are largely responsible for making his film work in most respects. It doesn’t always come out cleanly -- In Good Company’s story has too many parts to handle -- but the lessons learned are clear. Everything has to work together, especially in a complicated drama/comedy such as this, in order for the whole thing to succeed.
-- Andy Zientek (zfilm@earthlink.net)