In Good Company

Released 2004
Stars Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson, Marg Helgenberger, David Paymer, Clark Gregg, Philip Baker Hall, Zena Grey, Malcolm McDowell
Directed by Paul Weitz

An ad salesman, Dan (Dennis Quaid), must take a junior position after a corporate shakedown. Worse, he now reports to a much-younger boss, Carter (Topher Grace), a business school grad who espouses a sales approach branded Synergy that's at odds with Dan's old-school style. Although they don't see eye to eye, the two must get along, a mandate made more difficult when Carter becomes smitten with Dan's daughter (Scarlett Johansson).

When I saw the previews for this movie, I thought it was going to be an Ashton Kutcher type vehicle geared toward teenagers, but I was wrong. It's not a dumb teenage fantasy of a young guy taking over a business, kicking ass, and bagging the girl. It's an adult movie about grownups in the business world, and as a movie it's pretty smart about the workplace. That doesn't mean it's terribly realistic, but it does mean it knows what it's talking about. I knew from the beginning Carter was being set up for a clash of values. The yuppie get-all-I-can-at-any-cost values versus the old school business values of trying to make money while actually earning it and treating employees as people instead of "resources". There's a phony moment when Carter throws his fate in with Dan's (Dennis Quaid) instead of with his hotshot mentor, but that's because the movie wanted to end on an upbeat note. There's nothing wrong with that for a light-hearted, upbeat comedy.

I really enjoyed this movie because of its tone and what it had to say. It tried to stay away from stereotypes and created characters that were more than I expected. Carter wasn't an arrogant, clueless punk who was out to win at all costs. He said some of those things before he took over at the sports magazine, but he didn't really believe them. He was actually sensitive and even a little scared, but most important of all, capable. True, he shouldn't have been in that high of a position. He needed a lot more experience working with people and clients, but the movie could have made him a caricature. Instead, it showed him as a person who could genuinely lead others while implementing his parent company's mantra of cross-product synergy. As an aside, I have to say management-speak cracks me up. Anyway, much of the movie's success has to be credited to Topher Grace for imbuing Carter with humanity, eagerness, confidence and the clueless enthusiasm of a young executive.

The movie succeeds because it treats its characters with sensitivity and respect, and it offers a few positive surprises. The big one was Alex (Scarlett Johansson) breaking up with Carter. I didn't see that one coming. Right from the beginning I expected Carter to eventually become Dan's son that he never had by marrying Alex, but the movie resisted that cliché and made Alex more of a complex young woman than I expected. The surprise ending of Teddy K selling the company and returning Dan to his position was contrived, and the movie would have been stronger with a more realistic ending. Still, you have to forgive a light-hearted movie for a wishful ending. I'd like to see that kind of thing happen in the real world. --Bill Alward, May 14, 2005