In Good Company (2004) October 8, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Paul Weitz
You’re fifty one. You’ve just been demoted at work during a corporate takeover and your new boss is literally half your age - but with a new baby imminent, and a daughter who wants to move out and study in the city, your family is too dependent on a stable salary to put your job in any kind of jeopardy. It certainly sounds like a typical set-up, but this film from About A Boy director Paul Weitz is so much more, breathing fresh air into the ill-fated ‘dramedy’ (that’s comedy drama) genre.
The story details the tension between middle aged family-man Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) and youthful corporate hotshot Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) as they wrestle with their respective changes at work and at home. Carter brings new cross-promotional thinking and a harsh firing culture to the department that Dan has run in a traditional manner for so long. Meanwhile, Dan is worried about his daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson) who wishes to spread her wings away from home while Carter is going through a separation from his troubled marriage. Unfortunately, things only get worse when Carter latches on to Dan for a family meal where he meets, falls for and starts a relationship with Alex.
Firstly, the movie is very smartly structured to pronounce the relationships between the central character triangle: father & daughter, boss & employee and, eventually, boy/girlfriend. It takes care to set up each of its plotlines and then intertwines them as we follow the stories through to a satisfying concluding point. Not such an amazing feat to achieve you might think, but you’d be surprised how many movies can’t accomplish it with just one narrative thread, never mind three.
Part of the reason these linked stories are such fun however, is due to the performances from a great central cast. Dennis Quaid is fantastically down to earth as the mature hard-worker, pushed aside at work and no longer needed by his daughter – played equally as well by Scarlett Johansson. Meanwhile, Topher Grace inhabits the cocky-but-nervous character of Carter perfectly, bringing both a warmth and a sadness to his role that may have been lost in the hands of someone else (and to think the studio wanted Ashton Kutcher!).
Writer and director Paul Weitz handles his film with great care and produces some really nice visual work given that the comedy drama is hardly known for its quality cinematography. His ‘stand-off’ extreme close-ups and mood-setting scenes without dialogue allow the visuals to tell part of the story, while a well chosen soundtrack of music and a simple original score complement the rest of the film.
If it sounds as if I really enjoyed this movie, it’s because I did. And while there are those who believe that you have to be slightly older to appreciate it fully, I think that its greatest strength lies in its accessibility to such a wide range of people. Some may see the story from Dennis Quaid’s point of view, whereas others could relate to Grace or Johansson – either way, the multiple layers and lessons throughout the film keep it relatable, regardless of your age.
After graduating on About a Boy, Paul Weitz really hits top form here, delivering a smart, funny and heartfelt film that has something to say about the cutthroat nature of corporate culture, worries of feeling over the hill, and even the age-old dilemma of love. Unfortunately, his next movie would turn out to be a lot less sharp in its writing and lacking in the subtle humour that is so neatly exhibited here. Let’s hope then, that Weitz hasn’t peaked early – because the dramedy genre just won’t survive on its own.
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