In Good Company

There are no surprises in this mainstream comedy about an advertising executive (Dennis Quaid) coming to terms with being demoted in a favour of a much younger man (Topher Grace), but if the destination is familiar the journey is genial enough with a lightly satirical swipe at the shallowness of corporate culture and convincing performances from its three principals, Quaid, looking like Harrison Ford, Scarlett Johansson (doing what she does best, playing the sweetly diffident but nevertheless strong-minded ingenue) as his daughter, and between them, Grace, best known as the star of the TV sitcom, That '70s Show.

Well-scripted by Weitz who previously had collaborated with his brother Chris on the adaptation of Nick Hornsby's "About a Boy" and on the first of the American Pie movies, the film never plays for broad laughs and is a kind of updating of the classic "American Dream" comedy such as George Cukor's Pat And Mike (1952). If only from a new millennial perspective one had as much confidence that the happily-ever-after ending would be reflected in real life this might have had a truer ring.

DVD Extras: Audio commentary from the director with Topher Grace; Synergy, a promotional making-of featurette; deleted scenes (also with a commentary); and cast and crew bios. With English sub-titles for the hearing-impaired.

Available from: Village Roadshow

 

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