In Good Company amuses audiences

Movies like In Good Company normally exist to make an audience giggle. It succeeds on that level, but also accomplishes a few more goals that are normally too strenuous for a lighthearted drama.

The story proceeds fairly inventively, dealing with touchy subjects such as job loss, divorce, and love in a casual, non-defacing manner. The relationships are touching, not in a sappy emotional sense, but in a way that makes it hard not to like any of its characters.

The plot is intelligently mechanistic. A “hotshot” mid-twenties kid (I say “kid” because Topher Grace’s character, Carter, in spite of his financial maturity, always acts childish) from a monopolistic corporation “Globecom” gets the job as the lead of the ad sales division of their latest acquisition, “Sports America.” He replaces the former divisional boss, Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid,) a hard-working, trusted, 20-year executive.

From the get-go, Foreman treats Carter like a son, not a boss. Their surrogate relationship is the crutch that leads the movie to success. Desolate because of his recent marital separation, Carter falls in love with Dan’s daughter Alex (the lovely Scarlett Johansson.) Dan disapproves of the relationship and hijinks naturally ensue.

The movie paints a playful perspective on success and love. It’s knowledgeable of big business even with how silly it is portrayed. The nature of the evil-trust vs. old-fashioned business is well played out and in intriguing parallel with its two main protagonists. The movie is difficult to dislike and even harder not to laugh. The dialogue is not profound, but not idiotic either. Most of the quips between the characters are funny and well directed. Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy) has a tendency to create films that seem cliché, but diverge from the mold a bit more than most of the ignorant farces that get produced so rapidly as of late.

Overall, it is fun movie and easily gets my recommendation.

See it and smile.