In Good Company - The Review

In Good Company is a good movie. You'll laugh, you'll care about the characters and you'll leave the theater with a smile on your face.

What In Good Company is not is easily classifiable. It is definitely not an action thriller. It's not even a romantic comedy since the romance doesn't come till halfway into the movie and then it only lasts for 15 minutes (excuse me while my wife inserts analogy about our marriage here). Is it a chick flick? Well as the clerk at Blockbuster would say "Is that a young chick flick or an older chick flick?" I guess in the end it is both.

I went into the theater not knowing what to expect. The last movie I saw with Dennis Quaid was Disney's The Rookie which was an uplifting family movie. With Topher Grace from That 70's Show starring and the guys who brought American Pie to theaters directing - you expect some laughs. In the end you get both a uplifting film about a family and lots of laughs (don't get me wrong though - the movie isn't a comedy if anything it's a dramedy - hey is that a new word?).

In Good Company traces the tribulations in the family life of Dan Foreman (played by Dennis Quaid) against the void except for business that is the life of Carter Duryea (played by Topher Grace) over a nine month arc. Quaid plays a 51-year old ad sales manager for a major sports magazine *cough*Sports Illustrated*cough* who suddenly has the 26-year old Grace as his boss after a corporate take over. Scarlett Johanson is very believable (and very pretty) as the just out of braces, college student, daughter, love interest.

It is hard to compare In Good Company to any other movie but the comparison that sticks with me is to HG Wells The War of the Worlds with Quaid playing the Gene Barry smart, grounded character and Topher Grace playing the Martian machine (Topher at one point calls himself a machine). In War of the Worlds, contact with the humans kills the Martians but in In Good Company Topher's character becomes human through contact with Dennis Quaid's family.

Go see In Good Company with someone you love. You won't be disappointed.