Poster of In Good Company

In Good Company

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Director: Paul Weitz

Release Date: January 14, 2005

Where to Watch

In Good Company has an eminently likable cast and retro values in this corporate fairy tale. The world briefly spins off its axis when Dennis Quaid, the more experienced, family man, is demoted for the more successful, younger, socially inept Topher Grace. The whole movie basically consists of Grace slowly falling apart while Quaid mentors him to become a human being and abandon his corporate values for humanity. There is a disturbing gender thread in the film that I couldn’t ignore: Quaid’s coworker is sad because his wife earns more money then happy when she gets laid off; Quaid’s character is excited for a boy in a house full of women; Johansson, his daughter, is great at sports which makes her a cool girl to hang out with unlike the other girls who cook or talk on the phone; Quaid is annoyed that his daughter has a sex life early in the movie then later when it becomes a reality with Topher (“I liked you better when you were five”) and hits his boss; Johannson dumps Topher, but for herself, not her father–sure, you did. And all of this is seen as kind of okay and humorous. In Good Company is like Falling Down, but friendlier. On one hand, Quaid is right about human relationships being more valuable than corporate speak, but on the other, his world has a different toxicity about human relationships being important only when he is on top, and people are getting his approval-one you can’t see, taste or smell unless you’re really paying attention. Not a must see, but not awful. Basically don’t turn off the tv if it comes on, but don’t go looking for it.

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