Friday, January 14, 2005

In Good Company: A review

So, last night I was privileged to sit in on a screening of In Good Company. (*Warning* Canned synopsis ahead!)
Dan Foreman is headed for a shakeup. He is demoted from head of ad sales for a major magazine when the company he works for is acquired in a corporate takeover. His new boss, Carter Duryea, is half his age--a business school prodigy who preaches corporate synergy. Both men are going through turmoil at home. Dan has two daughters, Alex, age 18, and Jana, age 16, and is shocked when his wife tells him she's pregnant with a new child. Carter, in the meanwhile, is dumped by his wife of seven months just as he gets his promotion. Dan and Carter's uneasy friendship is thrown into jeopardy when Carter falls for Dan's daughter Alex.

Basically, a love triangle turned on its side.
Any movie that lets you get a good laugh and look at Scarlett Johansson can't be half-bad, and this one isn't. Speaking of Scarlett Johansson, she seems to have this odd quality of being aloof and inviting all at the same time. Both of the leading men are dealing with major setbacks. Dan (Dennis Quaid) in his professional life while, at home, life is reaching new level of excitement. On the flip side, Carter Duryea is the epitome of the "young hot-shot" but finds little waiting for him outside the walls of the office. Enter the comely Alex (Scarlett Johansson) who ends up being the gasoline on both men's already smoldering fires of insecurity.
Sadly, many of the funnier moments have already been viewed by all via commercials running on your TV set. Still, there is a subtle layer of humor that manifests itself in the platitudes and ideas of the corporate world and the quirkiness of the characters, especially Topher Grace's Carter Duryea.
All and all, an enjoyable time at the movies...and more importantly, not a chick flick.

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