Sometimes it takes a real good movie about a particular topic to notice that there are no real good movies about a particular topic. The corporate office is one of those topics. Millions of us commute varied distances five days a week to plop ourselves in an office or cubicle and work in front of a high powered computer to collaboratively work towards a corporation's yearly objectives. Yet for all the hundreds of millions of us that go through this process on a daily basis, there have been so few movies that have captured the stresses, the backstabbing and the emotional baggage between both employee and employer. Hollywood has tried to make light of the office atmosphere with such tripe fare as 9 to 5 and Two Weeks Notice, but the offices that were generally portrayed were filled with high-end furniture, fantastic looking staff in incredibly expensive clothing and bosses that were either reviled or secretly sexually doted on. The lack of a realistic depiction of this environment was in the forefront of my mind when I lined up at the ticket counter for In Good Company. Written and directed by Chris Weitz (American Pie) and starring Dennis Quaid (Flight of the Phoenix) and Topher Grace (Win A Date With Ted Hamilton), I didn't expect much in terms of an office environment that I could relate to. To my surprise, I was wrong. In Good Company starts with the takeover of a sports magazine by a large asset-sucking conglomerate. As with any takeover, tensions and rumors run high amongst the staff of the magazine where the advertising sales have been headed by Dan Foreman (Quaid) who himself has devoted 23 years to the organization. But with one swoop of the pen, the magazine is purchased and Foreman loses both his position and corner office to Carter Duryea (Grace), a 26-year old suit that has aspirations of kicking corporate ass without taking names. Dan's initial shock over the situation is only overshadowed by his complete astonishment of working for someone half his age with no previous advertising sales experience. He has a family to support kids to put through college and leaving his post at age 51 for moral issues is not part of the future equation. On the flip side of the coin, there is Carter, the young fish out of water that openly admits to a stranger on an elevator that he has no idea what he is doing. But it's a chance of a lifetime. An opportunity to give himself the life he always wanted - fortune, fame (in the form of senior recognition) and acceptance. With unsure eyes, he gains confidence in a development strategy. A career is born. But things go downhill for Carter much faster than his new wingman Dan. His dream Porsche gets smashed before pulling out of the dealer's lot and his wife leaves him on the same day. Carter decides therefore to live out of the office until a rhetorical and sarcastic invitation is offered by Dan to have dinner with his family. It is during Carters' introduction to the family that the chemistry between Dan's young daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson) and his new boss sparkles into a brushfire. When the two accidentally meet in the city weeks later, the relationship goes from a youthful infatuation to a full-blown romance. And this is where writer/director Weitz really impressed me. Both stories, that of the uncertainty within the office and the relationship between Carter and Alex unbeknownst to Dan are so strong and interesting that you can't put a label on which of the two is actually the sub-plot. Weitz is able to both stories and intertwine their relationships without having one feel like it is simply a crutch for the other. This may sound easy, but think of all the sub-plots in movies you've seen this year and how secondary story lines are there simply to either give an actor a bigger role or to stretch out the running time without adding value to the end product. In Good Company has many good points. The acting by the leads is top rate and the Grace and Johansson paring could end up being the Hanks/Ryan of the new millennium. These two above average youngsters took roles that may even have read cliché on the script pages and made interesting, vulnerable characters that seemed to grow years during the films 109 minute running time. But what I noticed most was the bit characters in the film and how well Weitz kept them real and founded in real emotion without going over the top for purposes of an extra laugh or dramatic moment. The office is filled with characters of different colors and sizes and they react to the downsizing with expected anxiety. They wonder what they will tell their wives. They wonder how they will support their families. And they leave in a fit of rage, feeling betrayed and under delusional impressions that the company will soon learn they have made a mistake. In Good Company is one of the best office setting films since In The Company of Men. Big recommendation.
Review of In Good Company
