in good company. review of the movie by alan haber. buhdge

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"Watching movies at home is, in many ways, preferable to going to the movie theater. It's quiet (no chatty yaketty-yakkers), more comfortable, and the sound is likely to be better (especially if you've got a good sound system). But nothing can replace the big, theater screen experience..." - Alan Haber

In Good Company Written and Directed by Paul Weitz Universal (2004-New York and L.A.; wide release, 2005) Dan Foreman, a 51-year-old ad sales director for Sports America magazine loves his job, his wife, and his two daughters, one leaving home to attend New York University and study creative writing and another still at home, discovering boys, the heartbeat of her purpose in life still ahead of her. An old-fashioned people person, enticing potential advertisers with opportunities the old-fashioned way, armed only with a firm handshake and the honest-to-God truth, Foreman is comfortable and hopeful, content with his place in the world. And then, without missing a beat, comes Maxwell's Silver Hammer: Foreman's wife is suddenly pregnant and his company is bought out by a soulless media conglomerate. Even worse, he finds himself demoted and reporting to a 26-year-old whose only real business triumph to date is selling cell phones to kids. Foreman can't believe his misery: this kid can't possibly fill his shoes; he has no sales experience and seems completely in over his head. Foreman doesn't know the half of it. His new boss, Carter Duryea, is scared shitless, a disturbing fact he shares with Foreman's daughter Alex upon meeting her in the elevator on the way up to his first day on the job. What's more, Duryea is in a loveless marriage that has lasted seven months--seven months too long. He soon finds himself divorced, living alone, and attracted to Alex. Lonely and uneasy, he invites himself to dinner at Foreman's house, and puts into play life changes for all concerned. Here is a movie that dares to be different. Playing like a great pop song's hook, it examines emotions and life's grand plan with nary an explosion or super villain in sight. It offers instead a look at how emotions play with people's lives, about how people choose to travel through life when life throws them curves. Weitz, working from his original screenplay, builds on his 2002 success, About a Boy, which he adapted from Nick Hornby's novel and directed with his brother Chris, by putting his actors through their paces with quiet assurance, planting seeds along the way that sprout with honest emotion and lead to a somewhat unforeseen conclusion. At least that's the way I see the ending of this movie, which I will not spoil here. In Good Company proceeds in a way that suggests, at times, over familiarity on the part of the audience with the characters and events that populate it, but the way it all comes together in the end--the way the characters take their positions in life after parts of those lives have been altered and set on the proper path--came to me as a surprise, a happy, though unexpected surprise, the result of good writing and solid insight. It's almost as if the entire movie is a setup for an ending that will change the audience's perception of Weitz's characters. Dennis Quaid, looking rugged and smart, is terrific as Foreman, playing him as a steadfast family man in classic film tradition. He disappears into his role, one of the best of his career. Scarlett Johansson, as Alex, similarly becomes her character, very different from the one she played in Lost in Translation, in which she was muse to Bill Murray's lost soul. Here, her father is her muse, his words always in and on her mind. Marg Helgenberger, of TV's CSI, provides solid support in a small role as Foreman's wife; old pro David Paymer, as one of the members of Foreman's sales team, and Philip Baker Hall, as one of Sports America's advertisers, also notch solid star turns. But it is Topher Grace, from TV's That 70s Show, who provides this movie's heart and soul. It is Grace's movie all the way; his everyman stance, totally endearing performance, delivered with, well, grace, is multi layered; because we see his total control of his work situation and his disappointment in the state of his personal life, and because he admits that he is scared to Alex even before he knows anything about her, we believe in him and root for him to overcome his fears. This is a star-making performance, pure and simple, and there is nothing simple about it. The movie's strong soundtrack, particularly songs from the Shins and Iron and Wine, is particularly well constructed. Old favorites such as Peter Gabriel's "Solisbury Hill" work well in tandem with the other songs present to amplify characters' emotions and plot points. To say that In Good Company is a triumph is an understatement. It reflects the lives it portrays with enviable accuracy, and does so with style and wit and, above all else, honesty, and in a climate stuffed to the gills with event movies that quickly grow as stale as day-old popcorn, it is a welcome, truthful diversion. Alan Haber January 17, 2005
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In Good Company
Written and Directed by Paul Weitz
Universal (2004-New York and L.A.; wide release, 2005)

Dan Foreman, a 51-year-old ad sales director for Sports America magazine loves his job, his wife, and his two daughters, one leaving home to attend New York University and study creative writing and another still at home, discovering boys, the heartbeat of her purpose in life still ahead of her. An old-fashioned people person, enticing potential advertisers with opportunities the old-fashioned way, armed only with a firm handshake and the honest-to-God truth, Foreman is comfortable and hopeful, content with his place in the world.

And then, without missing a beat, comes Maxwell's Silver Hammer: Foreman's wife is suddenly pregnant and his company is bought out by a soulless media conglomerate. Even worse, he finds himself demoted and reporting to a 26-year-old whose only real business triumph to date is selling cell phones to kids. Foreman can't believe his misery: this kid can't possibly fill his shoes; he has no sales experience and seems completely in over his head.

Foreman doesn't know the half of it. His new boss, Carter Duryea, is scared shitless, a disturbing fact he shares with Foreman's daughter Alex upon meeting her in the elevator on the way up to his first day on the job. What's more, Duryea is in a loveless marriage that has lasted seven months--seven months too long. He soon finds himself divorced, living alone, and attracted to Alex. Lonely and uneasy, he invites himself to dinner at Foreman's house, and puts into play life changes for all concerned.

Here is a movie that dares to be different. Playing like a great pop song's hook, it examines emotions and life's grand plan with nary an explosion or super villain in sight. It offers instead a look at how emotions play with people's lives, about how people choose to travel through life when life throws them curves. Weitz, working from his original screenplay, builds on his 2002 success, About a Boy, which he adapted from Nick Hornby's novel and directed with his brother Chris, by putting his actors through their paces with quiet assurance, planting seeds along the way that sprout with honest emotion and lead to a somewhat unforeseen conclusion.

At least that's the way I see the ending of this movie, which I will not spoil here. In Good Company proceeds in a way that suggests, at times, over familiarity on the part of the audience with the characters and events that populate it, but the way it all comes together in the end--the way the characters take their positions in life after parts of those lives have been altered and set on the proper path--came to me as a surprise, a happy, though unexpected surprise, the result of good writing and solid insight. It's almost as if the entire movie is a setup for an ending that will change the audience's perception of Weitz's characters.

Dennis Quaid, looking rugged and smart, is terrific as Foreman, playing him as a steadfast family man in classic film tradition. He disappears into his role, one of the best of his career. Scarlett Johansson, as Alex, similarly becomes her character, very different from the one she played in Lost in Translation, in which she was muse to Bill Murray's lost soul. Here, her father is her muse, his words always in and on her mind. Marg Helgenberger, of TV's CSI, provides solid support in a small role as Foreman's wife; old pro David Paymer, as one of the members of Foreman's sales team, and Philip Baker Hall, as one of Sports America's advertisers, also notch solid star turns.

But it is Topher Grace, from TV's That 70s Show, who provides this movie's heart and soul. It is Grace's movie all the way; his everyman stance, totally endearing performance, delivered with, well, grace, is multi layered; because we see his total control of his work situation and his disappointment in the state of his personal life, and because he admits that he is scared to Alex even before he knows anything about her, we believe in him and root for him to overcome his fears. This is a star-making performance, pure and simple, and there is nothing simple about it.

The movie's strong soundtrack, particularly songs from the Shins and Iron and Wine, is particularly well constructed. Old favorites such as Peter Gabriel's "Solisbury Hill" work well in tandem with the other songs present to amplify characters' emotions and plot points.

To say that In Good Company is a triumph is an understatement. It reflects the lives it portrays with enviable accuracy, and does so with style and wit and, above all else, honesty, and in a climate stuffed to the gills with event movies that quickly grow as stale as day-old popcorn, it is a welcome, truthful diversion.

Alan Haber
January 17, 2005